Edmonton @ Colorado preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 11, 2018 ) Colorado 4, Edmonton 1

The Edmonton Oilers appear to be a different team under coach Ken Hitchcock as they visit the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. Edmonton defeated Calgary 1-0 on Sunday for its third straight victory and sixth in the last seven games, and is 7-2-1 - 6-0-1 in one-goal contests - since Hitchcock took over from Todd McLellan on Nov. 20.

"It's a one-goal league, it always has been, and you have to find a way to win these tight games," Edmonton captain Connor McDavid told reporters after scoring Sunday. "We've been doing a good job to find a way to end up on the right side of the score." Colorado plays five of its next six at home after a 7-1 loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday capped a 2-2-0 road trip. The Avalanche won the first of three meetings this season 4-1 in Edmonton on Nov. 11, starting an 10-2-2 run that vaulted Colorado into a first-place tie with Nashville in the Central Division and halting the Oilers' six-game point streak in the series (5-0-1). McDavid was kept off the scoresheet in that contest after recording seven goals and 15 points in his first eight games against the Avalanche.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, Sportsnet West (Edmonton), Altitude (Colorado)

ABOUT THE OILERS (16-12-2): McDavid, the two-time reigning Art Ross Trophy winner, was fourth in the league entering Monday with 41 points after compiling 18 (six goals) in the last 12 games while pointless in only one contest during that span. Mikko Koskinen, 30, whose only NHL experience prior to this season was four games with the New York Islanders in 2010-11, has outplayed Cam Talbot in goal. Koskinen, though, is 6-0-0 with a 0.91 goals-against average and .970 save percentage in seven home games but 3-3-1, 3.17, .889 in seven road contests while Talbot is 3-4-1, 3.52, .885 at home and 4-5-0, 2.79, .904 away from home.

ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (17-8-5): Nathan MacKinnon scored his team-high 20th goal Saturday, joining Joe Sakic (1995-96) as the only players in club history to record 20 goals in the first 30 games and giving him the second-most points in the league entering Monday with 45. Mikko Rantanen has five goals and 14 assists during an 11-game point streak and leads the NHL with 48 points and 36 assists. The line of MacKinnon, Rantanen and captain Gabriel Landeskog (17 goals, 34 points) is responsible for 45.4 percent of the team's goals and 43.6 percent of its points.

OVERTIME

1. Colorado, which owns the league's top power-play unit at 30.2 percent, hasn't scored with the man advantage in its last two games - the first time this season it hasn't scored one in consecutive contests.

2. Edmonton is 0-for-17 on the power play in its last five games while the Avalanche have killed only 7-of-11 penalties over the past three contests.

3. Colorado C Carl Soderberg (10) is the only other Avalanche player with double-digit goals while F Colin Wilson and LW J.T. Compher have seven apiece.

PREDICTION: Avalanche 3, Oilers 2