Recap: Avs eclipse 50 wins to end regular season over Oilers

The regular season has come and gone for the Colorado Avalanche.

Colorado wrapped up game 82 of the season with a dominant 5-1 win over the shorthanded Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night. Valeri Nichushkin recorded two goals in the win, while Nathan MacKinnon looked like himself while setting more franchise records.

While it was a meaningless game for both teams, it still needed to be finished. Now, the real fun begins with the postseason on the horizon. But here’s how the regular season ended!

First Period

It should’ve been a sign of what was to come with Mikko Rantanen finding the iron in the opening minute. Not long after, Valeri Nichushkin would finish off a nice passing play between Casey Mittelstadt and Artturi Lehkonen to open the scoring.

Colorado continued to push, with the first line showing their stuff. This time, Rantanen wouldn't find the iron, but instead the back of a net with a brilliant shot to double the lead.

The Avs would have more offense come their way with Troy Stecher going to the box for hooking. Nichushkin would get his second of the game with a tip in front thanks to a Nathan MacKinnon shot-pass attempt, officially giving him the franchise record for points, with 140.

Colorado would wrap up their scoring in the frame with the bottom six. Josh Manson would play plinko with his shot hitting two different Oilers defenders. While they thought the puck hit Andrew Cogliano and went it, the defender would get his eighth goal of the year.

We wouldn't end the period without some Oilers pushback, however. They had a great chance shorthanded through Warren Foegele, which was denied by a brilliant diving save by Justus Annunen.

Eventually, Edmonton would score on their only power play of the frame. It came from a deflection by Dylan Holloway in the slot to break the ice.

The two teams played out the final few minutes, with the Oilers going to the box for too many men on the ice. The end of the power play would carry over to the second period with a great first-period performance now behind them.

Second Period

With Calvin Pickard now in the net in relief of Stuart Skinner, he would be looking to control the chaos from Colorado. They did just that, with Edmonton finding the iron a couple of times, and forcing a handful of good saves out of Annunen.

But eventually, the Avs would break through with some good hard-working play. Ross Colton fed the puck from behind the net to Zach Parise to score in his final regular season game. The only concern in the period came from Jonathan Drouin, who left the period early in some discomfort.

Third Period

With Drouin not returning to the game, it would be the rest of the depth of the team to finish out the period. Annunen continued to make some great saves, and the team managed to kill off a Mittelstadt tripping penalty.

Miles Wood thought he had scored right in front on a deflection, but he batted it in with his glove and it was immediately waved off. Luckily, it didn’t matter in the end with the Avalanche cruising to their 50th win of the season in a 5-1 final.

Takeaways

This was a much-needed bounce-back game for the Avalanche. Even if it did come against a shorthanded Oilers side without any of their top goalscorers playing in a meaningless game, it was good to see after a rough stretch to end the regular season. They chased Skinner out of the net after the first period, and guys like Nichushkin and Mittelstadt looked good after their recent poor runs of form.

While he wasn’t super busy, Annunen does deserve a shoutout for his performance. He allowed Alexandar Georgiev to get some rest and have a full week off heading into the postseason. While he may not be the starter, he made some great stops in a 24-save win.

It was a meaningless game for both teams with the matchups and seedings set. Hence, now the fun really begins. The regular season is now behind us, with another great 82-game stretch for the Avs to make the big dance. While they didn’t win the division and lost out on home-ice advantage in the closing weeks of the season, it’s a new clean slate for Colorado. The time is now for them to show they can win 16 games against tough opponents. They are the underdogs for the first time in a long time. They should embrace the chance, and go out and prove everyone wrong. It’s the best time of the year, and we couldn't be more excited here at Mile High Hockey!

Upcoming

The playoffs begin! It all starts Sunday night against the Winnipeg Jets in Game 1 at 5:00 p.m. MT on Altitude and ESPN2.