Nugent-Hopkins has goal and assist, Skinner stops 27 shots as Oilers beat Avalanche 4-1

DENVER (AP) Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist, Stuart Skinner stopped 27 shots and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 on Saturday night.

Kasperi Kapanen, Vasily Podkolzin and Brett Kulak also scored as Edmonton won for the fourth time in five games.

Nikolai Kovalenko scored for Colorado, and Alexandar Georgiev had 28 saves.

Kovalenko had a power-play goal at 7:02 of the first period as the Avalanche went 1 for 5 with the man advantage.

Kapanen, playing his fourth game with the Oilers since being claimed off waivers on Nov. 19, tied it less than five minutes later. Connor McDavid brought the puck around the net, attracted the attention of much of the Colorado defense and hit an open Kapanen with a backhanded, cross-crease pass for his 19th assist of the season.

Podkolzin put the Oilers ahead for good with 6:12 left in the second period, scoring a goal for the third straight game. Troy Stecher had an assist on the play, extending his streak to three games.

Kulak made it 3-1 at 3:56 of the third and Nugent-Hopkins added an empty-netter with 1:32 to go.

Avalanche: Samuel Girard, playing in his 500th career game, had an assist on Kovalenko’s goal, tying Erik Johnson for sixth in franchise history with 178 assists

Oilers: Edmonton improved to 3-11-1 in their last 15 meetings with the Avalanche, including the playoffs. It also ended a six-game losing streak (0-5-1) in the regular season in Colorado.

Podkolzin’s goal proved to be the winning goal and strengthened the Oilers’ grip on a game they largely controlled after the opening 10 minutes of the first period.

McDavid’s assist gave him 34 points (14 goals, 20 assists) in 22 career games against the Avalanche.

Avalanche visit Buffalo on Tuesday, and Oilers visit Vegas.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL