DENVER (AP) — Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist, Stuart Skinner stopped 27 shots and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 on Saturday night.

Kasperi Kapanen, Vasily Podkolzin and Brett Kulak also scored as Edmonton won for the fourth time in five games.

Nikolai Kovalenko scored a goal for Colorado and Alexandar Georgiev had 28 saves.

Kovalenko scored a power-play goal at 7:02 of the first period as the Avalanche went 1-for-5 with the man advantage.

Kapanen, playing his fourth game for the Oilers since coming off waivers on Nov. 19, tied the score less than five minutes later. Connor McDavid brought the puck over the net, caught the attention of much of the Colorado defense, and hit an open Kapanen with a backhand cross-fleece pass for his 19th assist of the season.

Podkolzin gave the Oilers the lead for good with 6:12 left in the second period, scoring for the third straight game. Troy Stecher had an assist and extended his winning streak to three games.

Kulak made it 3-1 at 3:56 of the third period and Nugent-Hopkins added an empty-net goal with 1:32 left.

Takeaways

Avalanche: Samuel Girard, playing in his 500th career game, had an assist on Kovalenko’s goal, tying Erik Johnson for sixth place in franchise history with 178 assists

Oilers: Edmonton improved to 3-11-1 in its last 15 meetings with the Avalanche, including the playoffs. This also ended a six-game losing streak (0-5-1) in the regular season in Colorado.

Key moment

Podkolzin’s goal proved to be the game-winner, tightening the Oilers’ control of a game they largely controlled after the first ten minutes of the first period.

Key statistics

McDavid’s assist gave him 34 points (14 goals, 20 assists) in 22 career games against the Avalanche.

Next

Avalanche visits Buffalo on Tuesday and the Oilers visit Vegas.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL