Avalanche emerge from Game 1 chaos to take series-opener over Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers and Game 1s are proven incompatible.

Falling behind for a third consecutive series, the Oilers dropped Game 1 of the Western Conference Final in chaotic and highly entertaining fashion, losing 8-6 to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night in Denver after a furious comeback attempt fell short.

Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon were the catalysts and represented the superior collection of superstars, at least on this night, combining for two goals and five points. That included a seriously controversial goal off the stick of Makar late in the first period, which would help create the separation between the two teams just prior to the first intermission.

The Avalanche and Oilers brought the chaos in a ridiculous Game 1. (Getty)

Four netminders featured in the game before the halfway mark, including Colorado’s Pavel Francouz, who settled things down for the Avalanche with 18 saves on 21 shots after Darcy Kuemper left with an upper-body injury. Edmonton’s Mike Smith was pulled for the second straight Game 1, conceding six goals on 25 shots in just over 29 minutes.

Mikko Koskinen was probably the best netminder in the game, entering in relief for the Oilers.

Connor McDavid lost his matchup versus Colorado’s ultra-talented five-man unit, but still led the way offensively for the Oilers, scoring a goal and adding two assists. His 11 multi-point games in these playoffs are the most ever through 13 outings to begin a postseason.

Evander Kane and Zach Hyman extended their remarkable scoring runs, with Kane scoring his postseason-best 13th goal in as many games and Hyman notching one for a sixth consecutive outing.

There were 13 different goal scorers in the game with Colorado’s J.T. Compher being the only player to register a multi-goal effort.

More to come.

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