EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -Taylor Hall scored with 29 seconds left in the third period to give the Edmonton Oilers a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night at Rexall Place.
Fellow rookie Jordan Eberle set up the play by winning a battle against Avalanche defenseman John-Michael Liles behind the net before sending a seeing-eye pass to Hall at the bottom of the right circle. From there, Hall quickly sent a wrister past a diving Peter Budaj to seal the victory.
The top overall pick in the June draft, Hall has five goals this season. He also added an assist, giving the rookie 11 points (5g/6a) in 21 games.
Gilbert Brule and Andrew Cogliano scored in the first 3:51 to stake the Oilers to a 2-0 lead, but Colorado rallied to tie it on goals by Kevin Shattenkirk in first and Matt Duchene in the second.
Martin Gerber, making his first start of the season, made 35 saves for the victory, the Oilers' first at home since Oct. 10. Budaj had 21 saves for Colorado.
The Avalanche has lost two straight, but remains tied with Vancouver for the Northwest Division lead with 25 points, although Vancouver has played one fewer game.
Shattenkirk cut Edmonton's lead in half 5:50 into the opening period when he swooped in from Gerber's left and stuffed the puck past the netminder. It was the rookie's third goal and seventh point in 11 NHL games since being recalled from the Lake Erie Monsters on Nov. 3
The Avalanche tied it on a power play 3:04 into the second period when the puck got caught up in defenseman Theo Peckham's skates and Duchene swooped in and sent it into a wide-open net.
NOTES: Oilers forward Ales Hemsky was scratched because of a groin injury. ... Edmonton defenseman Ladislav Smid returned to the lineup following a concussion. ... Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson missed the game with a groin injury suffered in Wednesday night's loss to the Vancouver Canucks. ... Colorado recalled goalie Jason Bacashihua from Lake Erie to serve as Budaj's backup tonight. ... The Avalanche was also without captain Adam Foote, who sustained a leg injury against Vancouver. ...It was the first meeting of the season between the teams. The Avalanche went 3-2-1 against the Oilers in 2009-10.
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Winning Goaltender |
Losing Goaltender |
| TEAM | GP | W | L | OT | GF | GA | PTS | ||
| 1 |  |
p - CHI | 48 | 36 | 7 | 5 | 155 | 102 | 77 |
| 2 |  |
y - ANA | 48 | 30 | 12 | 6 | 140 | 118 | 66 |
| 3 |  |
y - VAN | 48 | 26 | 15 | 7 | 127 | 121 | 59 |
| 4 |  |
x - STL | 48 | 29 | 17 | 2 | 129 | 115 | 60 |
| 5 |  |
x - LAK | 48 | 27 | 16 | 5 | 133 | 118 | 59 |
| 6 |  |
x - SJS | 48 | 25 | 16 | 7 | 124 | 116 | 57 |
| 7 |  |
x - DET | 48 | 24 | 16 | 8 | 124 | 115 | 56 |
| 8 |  |
x - MIN | 48 | 26 | 19 | 3 | 122 | 127 | 55 |
| 9 |  |
CBJ | 48 | 24 | 17 | 7 | 120 | 119 | 55 |
| 10 |  |
PHX | 48 | 21 | 18 | 9 | 125 | 131 | 51 |
| 11 |  |
DAL | 48 | 22 | 22 | 4 | 130 | 142 | 48 |
| 12 |  |
EDM | 48 | 19 | 22 | 7 | 125 | 134 | 45 |
| 13 |  |
CGY | 48 | 19 | 25 | 4 | 128 | 160 | 42 |
| 14 |  |
NSH | 48 | 16 | 23 | 9 | 111 | 139 | 41 |
| 15 |  |
COL | 48 | 16 | 25 | 7 | 116 | 152 | 39 |
| SKATERS: | GP | G | A | +/- | Pts |
| P. Parenteau | 48 | 18 | 25 | -11 | 43 |
| M. Duchene | 47 | 17 | 26 | -12 | 43 |
| P. Stastny | 40 | 9 | 15 | -7 | 24 |
| J. McGinn | 47 | 11 | 11 | -13 | 22 |
| J. Mitchell | 47 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 20 |
| R. O'Reilly | 29 | 6 | 14 | -3 | 20 |
| G. Landeskog | 36 | 9 | 8 | -4 | 17 |
| T. Barrie | 32 | 2 | 11 | -11 | 13 |
| C. McLeod | 48 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 12 |
| M. Hejduk | 29 | 4 | 7 | -7 | 11 |
| GOALIES: | W | L | OT | Sv% | GAA |
| J. Giguere | 5 | 4 | 4 | .908 | 2.84 |
| S. Varlamov | 11 | 21 | 3 | .903 | 3.02 |
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