Francouz, Kadri Lead Avalanche To 4-0 Win Over Oilers In Game 2

DENVER (AP) — Nazem Kadri had three assists in a 2:04 span in the second period, backup Pavel Francouz stopped 24 shots for his second career playoff shutout and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-0 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.

The Colorado Avalanche broke through in the second after a scoreless opening period that featured something rarely seen so far in this series — defense.

Artturi Lehkonen and Josh Manson scored 15 seconds apart to get things going in the second, with Mikko Rantanen adding another on Kadri’s third assist as the home side finished with three goals in the period. Lehkonen also notched an assist in the win at Ball Arena.

Gosh, we love this team.#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/MQhdKacRrB

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) June 3, 2022

Nathan MacKinnon scored late in the third. The Avalanche outshot the Oilers 40-24 and had 35 hits and held Edmonton to 32. Despite winning the game, the Oilers had the advantage in faceoffs 34-28 and in penalty minutes 16-6.

One of the four goals by the Avalanche came off of a power play. In the first two games of the Western Conference Finals, Colorado has doubled up the Oilers 12-6.

Game 3 is Saturday in Edmonton at 6:00 PM MT on TNT. The Oilers came away empty handed in the two games in Colorado and will look to strike in the series back home where they finished the regular season with a 28-12-1 record.

Meanwhile in the Eastern Conference, the New York Rangers lead the series 1-0 after a 6-2 win at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. Game 2 is Friday night in the Big Apple with the puck dropping at 6:00 PM MT on ESPN.