Nichushkin, Avalanche beat the Oilers 4-2 in game 3; lead WCF 3-0

Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin scored a pair of goals, and goalkeeper Pavel Francouz made 27 saves to give Colorado the lead.

Francouz started the game in place of the injured No. 1 goalkeeper. Darcy KuemperWho Exit Game 1 trauma to the upper body.

On the other side of the tape, scorer Oilers Mike Smith He missed all 16 shots that came his way with Avalanche’s powerplay, and totaled 39 saves on Saturday night.

Things looked promising soon for the Oilers, who calculated the first goal of the night Connor McDavid just 38 seconds in opening time.

Nichushkin gave Avalanche the lead on the night, scoring to tie the game at 16:12 in the first half before taking the lead, 4:37 in the second.

The Oilers took the game to 2-2 when Ryan McLeod scored just over seven minutes on Tuesday.

Even so, JT Compher scored to help Avalanche regain the lead five minutes later.

Mikko Rantanen scored another goal into an empty net late in the game to seal the victory for the Oilers.

Colorado’s Nazem Kadri left Game 3 early for the first time after being thoroughly tested by Edmonton’s Evander Kane; he didn’t come back.

Avalanche will be looking for a four-game sweep in Game 4 on Monday at 8 p.m. ET.