Kovalenko scored a power play goal at 7:02 of the first period to make it 1-0 for Colorado. He once intercepted a pass from Artturi Lehkonen at the bottom of the right circle.

“It was a really hard hit on the glove and I thought I had it done. I almost wanted to celebrate, but I just saw it seeping in and this is what happens,” Skinner said. “It was a really nice shot. It was a tough shot. I managed to get a little bit, but at the end of the day no one cares. It was a goal.”

Kapanen evened the score at 1-1 when he redirected McDavid’s cross pass to the other side of the net at 11:48 of the first period.

“I really liked our first one. It looked like we were doing well. Good things are happening on both sides of the rink. But after that it just felt like they wore us down and took over the game,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “Scoring is not easy and if you fall behind it can become frustrating for the team.”

Podkolzin made the final score 2-1 for Edmonton when he blocked Troy Stecher’s shot from the blue line by Georgiev at 13:48 of the second period.

“It’s always fun to score. It’s always fun to be useful to the team, but again I try not to talk about it too much,” said Podkolzin. “I’m going to keep working, keep helping my team win, just stay positive and have fun.”

Kulak extended the lead to 3-1 with a snap shot from the blue line that found its way through traffic at 3:56 of the third period.

“It’s frustrating because it’s very tight in the overall standings and you have to get going at some point,” said Mikko Rantanen. “You have to win more than three games in a row to have a good playoff spot. So we had to find a way to get some wins in a row.”