The Colorado Avalanche eked out a 8-6 the Edmonton Oilers in a wild, high-scoring Game 1 in the Western Conference Final, and the two teams are back at it Thursday night with a murky goalie situation hanging over both.
Although the Oilers opened the scoring, the Avalanche had a 7-3 lead before the end of the second period, chasing Mike Smith from the Edmonton net as well. However, an injury to Darcy Kuemper for Colorado meant that backup Pavel Francouz had to come into game for the final minutes of the second period, and the Oilers took full advantage by scoring three goals in a row.