Dubnyk, Oilers blank Avalanche

DENVER -- The Edmonton Oilers have been on the road so long, the players might need directions home when they land in Alberta.

After Tuesday night's dominating performance, they at least head home happy.

Devan Dubnyk stopped 36 shots for his first shutout of the season and the fifth of his career, and the Oilers beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-0 at Pepsi Center.

Magnus Paajarvi had a goal and an assist, and Shawn Horcoff, Sam Gagner and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored for the Oilers.

The win ended a nine-game, 17-day road trip that had the makings of a season killer. The Oilers started the trip with an overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, and they limped back into Chicago on Sunday after being shut out twice.

A win against the suddenly vulnerable Blackhawks was followed with Tuesday's gem. Edmonton beat the Blackhawks and then the Avalanche to finish the trek 3-4-2.

With Tuesday's victory, Edmonton (10-11-5) jumped over Colorado (10-11-4) in the Northwest Division standings.

"That was as complete a game as we played, especially on the road," Horcoff said. "It's not easy to finish in Denver. After 17 days, I think we were all sucking wind a little bit. When you're not feeling great, that's the kind of game you need to play."

Colorado had its two-game winning streak snapped after coming out flat against Edmonton. The Avalanche had won five straight at home, including Friday's 6-2 victory over the Blackhawks, who came to town without a regulation loss in their first 24 games.

"We've been playing well, especially at home, but tonight, that was a bad game, a bad game by everyone," Colorado coach Joe Sacco said. "There's just no other way to put it. We just did not play well tonight."

Unlike against Chicago on Sunday, when the Oilers had a 4-0 lead before winning 6-5, Edmonton didn't need to hold off the Avalanche. The Oilers were in control from the start, building a 2-0 lead after the first period on goals by Horcoff and Gagner.

Horcoff's goal came after Ales Hemsky chipped the puck past defenseman Ryan O'Byrne at the Edmonton blue line and then fed Horcoff, who had a clear shot when forward Gabriel Landeskog fell down.

Horcoff has scored a goal in consecutive games after missing 15 games with a broken knuckle.

"I got a lucky break on my goal, a lucky turnover," Horcoff said.

Gagner made it 2-0 when he put in the rebound of a Paajarvi shot at 16:18. Paajarvi gave the Oilers a 3-0 lead midway through the second when he knocked his own rebound out of the air past goalie Semyon Varlamov.

Colorado appeared to spoil the shutout early in the third period Jan Hejda's shot from the point beat Dubnyk. Referee Stephen Walkom waved it off because Landeskog was in the crease while impeding Dubnyk's vision.

"I think it was a great call," Dubnyk said. "The difference is I got out to my spot and set, and he moved back into me. If it goes the other way where he's there, I can't move out into him and try to sell it. That's the difference."

Landeskog saw it differently.

"Yeah, Steve said that I was in the crease," he said. "I didn't really get a clear look at it, but I thought I wasn't in the crease. I thought I wasn't disturbing the goalie there, but it's his call. He probably saw it way better than I did. It's unfortunate because if we had 3-1 there, it's a completely different game."

Minutes later, Nugent-Hopkins scored to make it 4-0.

Dubnyk lost a couple of previous shutouts on late goals, but this time his teammates were able to run out the clock after Colorado's Ryan Wilson drew a roughing minor with 1:17 left.

"It's nice to get the power play and the guys were passing it around making sure they didn't get a blocked shot," he said. "I've been close a couple of times, so it's great to get the first one."

NOTES: Taylor Hall and Hemsky finished with two assists each. ... Horcoff's goal was the 158th of his career. He passed Doug Weight for ninth on the franchise's all-time list. ... Dubnyk was back in net after leaving Sunday's game against Chicago with a neck injury suffered in a collision with teammate Teemu Hartikainen. ... Avalanche forward P.A. Parenteau had his career-high six-game point streak end. ... Gagner has at least a point in 20 of the team's 26 games. ... Colorado has the NHL's top-ranked penalty kill at home. The Avalanche have allowed four goals on 51 short-handed situations (92.1 percent). ... Avalanche forward David Jones hasn't recorded a point since getting a goal and an assist Feb. 28 against Calgary.