Edmonton Oilers lose to Avs; will face Kings in first round - Edmonton

The Edmonton Oilers regular season ended with a 5-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, Thursday night in Denver. The Oilers held Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Evan Bouchard, and Mattias Ekholm out of the lineup. Evander Kane missed his third straight game with a minor injury. “It's not easy replacing six guys that play over 18-20 minutes a night,” Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse said after the game. “But I thought we battled hard. They're a great team. They had their full lineup; they're ready for their playoff mode and they came out hard.” It took the Avs only 1:19 to grab the lead on a goal by Valeri Nichushkin. Mikko Rantanen sniped his 42nd of the season, Nichushkin