EDMONTON, Alberta — The momentum of an Avalanche winning streak got crunched, quite literally, just 25 seconds into action Thursday night in a wake-up call loss to the Oilers.
Previously red-hot Nathan MacKinnon was laid out against the boards with a monster hit by Edmonton forward Zack Kassian as a raucous crowd inside Rogers Place erupted. Avs forward Matt Calvert dropped gloves with Kassian to even the score seconds later with both players handed 5-minute major fighting penalties.
But the game tone was already set and Colorado’s first period fell apart in an eventual 6-2 defeat.
Avalanche goalie Andrew Werner, fresh off a 40-save combined shutout in Winnipeg, proved unable to recapture that magic in his first NHL start.