Hey now! Avalanche and Oilers ripple through fiery game in Rocky Mountains

The first song of Grateful Dead’s 1971 self-titled live record commonly known as Skull and Roses, is named Bertha. The protagonist in this tune travels from place to place trying to get out of the rain searching for Bertha. But it’s not a person, it’s a metaphor for death and rebirth.

On Grateful Dead night at Ball Arena, two teams were searching for their own meaning in the world. The death of the Edmonton Oilers could signal the rebirth of the defending Stanley Cup champ Colorado Avalanche. The best conclusion to draw after the Oilers’ 2-1 overtime victory is that neither knows which of The Other One is the Big Boss Man is in this year’s west.

“I liked our game,” said coach Jared Bednar. “I thought we were engaged right away and played hard. I think we did a pretty good job on the checking side of it. You know, (it was) a pretty good hockey game.”

It feels like yesterday that Nathan MacKinnon stole Connor McDavid’s soul during the Western Conference Final. Both red-hot teams met on Tuesday night, separated by one point, to discover deeper truths of delusion or truth.

The hockey gods were clearly not satisfied by a fluke goal in the first period. Ben Meyers flung his stick at a loose puck that Nick Bjugstad accidentally slipped through the five-hole of his own goalie, Stuart Skinner.

No, no, no.

That would just not do!

Jerry Garcia was meant to play guitar despite missing a part of a finger and this game was meant to be close.

The Oilers had not trailed in a game this month. They would only feel that pain for a pitifully short 36 seconds as Mattias Ekholm would blast a laser past Avs goalie Alexandar Georgiev to even the count.

Remarkably, in the first NHL game since 1986 to feature five players who had already reached 100-plus points in the regular season, the skaters on the board in the first period would be Meyers, Ekholm, Ryan McLeod and Warren Foegele, who now have a combined 58 points on the year.

The game-winner was notched by Evan Bouchard, his seventh of the season.

This was like expecting to see Bob Weir only to get Bob Weird.

They both may play Dead tunes, but it’s not what you thought it was gonna be.

That doesn’t mean McDavid and his gaudy 151 points went unnoticed. His presence was felt in every aspect of the game. What particularly stood out was his value on the penalty kill. He was everywhere and dangerous on the counterattack.

With 8:37 left in the second, McDavid got loose for a breakaway. The sell-out crowd held their collective breath, erupting in cheers as Georgie stoned the world’s best player.

Later in the second, Devon Toews drew blood on Zach Hyman with a high stick. Going to the box for four minutes against the Oilers offense who has the top-ranked power play in the NHL seemed like a terminal diagnosis. But the Avs didn’t falter on Shakedown Street, denying multiple quality chances, they walked away unscathed. The crowd exploded for an encore in appreciation of the excellent defensive effort.

“That was huge,” said Georgiev. “The guys did a great job. They cleared the puck a lot and helped me out.”

“I thought those guys were dialed in,” said Bednar on his penalty kill unit. “We had a good meeting in the morning. You have to when you have (Leon) Draisaitl who’s a big threat at passing, Hyman at the net, and McDavid coming downhill. There are a lot of weapons there. They did a nice job (stopping the Oilers). Of course, Georgie did a great job again and gave us a chance to win.”

Buoyed by the energy of the decisive penalty kill, the Avs ended the period with an incredible three-man weave. MacKinnon took the puck at center ice, deftly dropping a pass to Mikko Rantanen who effortlessly shuttled a perfect saucer pass to Toews. The redirect clanked off Skinner’s stick just missing the five-hole by scant inches. It was a fitting end to a brilliant period by both teams.

With the Wild losing to the Jets earlier in the night, one point could secure home ice for the Avs for the first round of the playoffs. Colorado played it out accordingly. Although, Bednar denied they did anything but go full throttle for the win.

“No, no, we’re playing to win. We checked hard in the third and the whole game really. We played our game to the bitter end and did a nice job.”

The third period tightened as both teams feared making any significant mistakes. While there was a lot to play for, neither needed to take risky chances.

The aggressor all night were the Oilers. They outshot the Avs 40-29. However, none of that mattered as the game remained tied late in the third.

The drama built as the teams nose-dived towards next goal wins territory. With so many brilliant players the question was which hero would emerge?

Evander Kane nearly took out Sam Girard’s eye with a high stick. With 5:07 remaining, the Avs went on the power play. The action was furious, a MacK drive from the left of Skinner smashed off the pipe. The Oilers countered with a three-on-one.

Denied!

The Avs absolutely dominated the possession, smashing five shots on the goal, yet they couldn’t cash bringing the game to a delirious final two minutes of regulation.

Both teams played with all-out effort and grit taking the game to overtime. It was a hard-fought 60 minutes of relentless action that warranted at least a hard-earned point for each side.

Into the extra session, the Avs couldn’t keep up with McDavid. Getting the LeBron James treatment from the refs, McDavid slingshotted himself past Bo Byram. This was an insult to injury as Bo missed high on a golden opportunity moments before. The young defenseman took out his frustrations retaliating against McDavid, who leads the league in penalties drawn.

“I think he beats me up the ice,” said a frustrated Byram about McDavid in OT. “I think he tugged on me a few times.”

Seconds into the Oilers overtime power play, Bouchard snapped a wicked wrister past Georgiev. The Oilers celebrated on the ice in front of a disappointed Colorado crowd.

“I thought we played hard,” said Byram. “We killed off a lot of penalties, but couldn’t finish it up.”

“That’s how the games are going to be,” said Andrew Cogliano. “They are going to be tight and close checking. We did a pretty good job on McDavid and those guys which is really tough to do. I think the game could’ve gone either way. Hopefully, we get some players back as we go and get some guys back who are big parts of our team and feel good after that.”

The Dallas Stars have a back-to-back home and home series with St Louis starting tomorrow night. While it certainly will help relieve pressure for the Stars to lose, the Avs still control their own destiny in the Central. Nashville got zapped from the playoffs on Tuesday night when the Jets beat the Wild. The Jets cannot improve their position and likely are happy to take it easy on Thursday night in Denver.

So while a win would’ve tasted sweeter, it was a satisfying one-point performance without a bunch of important players that keeps the Avs in terrific playoff position.

“It doesn’t hurt,” Hey nowsaid Bednar about facing such a tough opponent. “This (Avs) team’s scrappy. They are a resilient group. They find a different way to win every night. Lots of heart is a good way to describe this team.”

This team keeps the fans on the edge of their seats as they just keep truckin’ into the postseason.

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