Avalanche Takes Commanding 3-0 Lead Over Edmonton in NHL Western Conference Finals

J.T. Compher scored the go ahead goal with 7:18 to go in the third period, and Mikko Rantanen added an empty netter with 30 seconds left as the visiting Colorado Avalanche beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 on June 4th and took a 3-0 lead in the best of seven Western Conference Finals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The win is another illustration of how teams need two solid goalies on their rosters. Colorado’s #1 goalie, Darcy Kuemper, suffered an upper body injury in Game 1. Backup Pavel Francouz finished Game 1, and started Games 2 and 3. His playoff record in this post season is 5-0 with a 2.37 goals against average and a .920 save percentage. He had 27 saves in Game 3.

Valeri Nichushkin scored the other two Colorado goals, and Devon Toews had a pair of assists for the Avalanche. Connor McDavid scored one of Edmonton’s goals with the first shot of the game, just 38 seconds into the first period. Ryan McLeod scored the other in the second period.

The Avalanche can wrap up the series with a Game 4 win on June 6th. Colorado will be without the services of Nazem Kadri for the rest of this series, if not longer. Kadri was injured in the first period on a hit from Evander Kane, who was given a five minute major penalty for boarding.