HC Kris Knoblauch gives an insight into his decision of pulling Stuart Skinner after 1st period mishap against Avalanche 

Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch explained why he pulled Stuart Skinner after the first period in Friday’s 5-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche at Rogers Place. Skinner started the game and allowed three goals on 12 shots in the first period. Calvin Pickard replaced him and made 17 saves on 19 shots in the two periods that followed.

Speaking to the media postgame, Knoblauch said Skinner could have stopped the first two goals.

"I don't think he [Skinner] had much opportunity on the third one, but made a nice save at the end of the period,” Knoblauch said. “But the first two, I felt like he could've had, and Picks [Pickard] has been winning us a lot of games, and we needed a little boost for our team. He has a pretty good record of late, and felt he could come in and do the job."

(from 0:39 mark onwards)

Nathan MacKinnon scored first on a power play at 9:48, shooting through Skinner’s pads. Leon Draisaitl tied it 1-1 at 10:39 with a one-timer from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Defenseman Cale Makar made it 2-1 at 11:46 with a wrist shot past Skinner’s glove, but Corey Perry tied it 2-2 at 12:22. Artturi Lehkonen put Colorado up 3-2 at 18:08.

Oilers' tried to recover after replacing Stuart Skinner

After Skinner's replacement, the pace of the game slowed down a little. In the second period, Makar made it 4-2 shorthanded at 6:39 of the second, but Perry cut it to 4-3 at 7:48.

Draisaitl tied it 4-4 at 15:59 with an assist from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Later newly acquired Martin Necas scored the game-winner at 15:37 of the third.

Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl was also disappointed with the loss

With his impressive, two-goal performance Leon Draisaitl reached 40 goals in 55 games, beating his previous best of 61 games in 2021-22. Draisaitl also extended his goal streak to three games (four goals) and his point streak to six games (five goals, four assists).

However, Draisaitl was disappointed with the loss.

"I’m not here to talk about myself," Draisaitl said postgame via NHL.com. "It’s nice to hit that mark, for sure. There’s lots of players around who are a massive part of that, so I’m not taking full props for all of that...There’s lots that has to go right and has to go into that."

Draisaitl became the seventh Oilers player to score 40 goals in 55 games or fewer. He joined Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Connor McDavid, Glenn Anderson, Craig Simpson and Jimmy Carson.

The Edmonton Oilers will look to bounce back when they face the Philadelphia Flyers next at Wells Fargo Center on Feb. 22 after the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.