McDavid, Oilers defeat Avs, 4-2

In Denver Sunday, the Edmonton’s Connor McDavid netted a hat trick to lead the Oilers to a 4-2 win over the Avalanche.

“Obviously the team isn’t finding a way to have success, but it’s a credit to the guys I’m playing with,” McDavid said. “It’s been pretty fluid. I’ve been playing with a bunch of guys, and it’s a credit to them.”

The loss snapped a 10-game home streak the Avs were riding.

Connor McDavid’s hat trick led the Oilers to a 4-2 win over the Avalanche Sunday in Denver – file photo by Lewis Bleiman

Cam Talbot made 24 saves for the win as the Oilers improved to 24-30-4 and seemingly remain optimistic for a post season berth.

“It doesn’t get any easier as it goes on and our task isn’t any easier,” Oilers head coach Todd McLellan said. “We know where we are in the standings, we know we have to get better as a team. We’re going to enjoy this right now.”

Ryan Strome also scored for Edmonton.

Alexander Kerfoot and Tyson Jost struck for the Avs in the loss as they dropped to 31-23-4 and are now three points back of the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card spot in the west.

The lost two defensemen, Erik Johnson and Anton Lindholm, to injuries int he game.

“The couple injuries in the back end could hurt us more than just the loss today,” Avs head coach Jared Bednar said.

A tight game came apart in the third period when the Oilers scored three times.

“There’s no excuse for the third,” Bednar said. “We played 14 minutes and had three shots on goal in a game we’re trying to win and need to win at home. No excuse for that.

“We stopped skating, stopped putting them under pressure. The things we did in the second period, the things we need to do to put teams on their heels, we just didn’t do it. It seemed we were comfortable with the one-goal lead.”

[WATCH: All Oilers vs. Avalanche highlights]

Semyon Varlamov made 36 saves in taking the loss.

“We had 40 minutes where the urgency isn’t high enough. It might have been high enough in November, it’s not high enough for now. We’re going to have to make sure that that gets elevated. We have to dial our game up just like everybody else does at this time of the year,” Bednar  said with disappointment after the loss.