Avs beat Oilers, 4-0 for 2-0 series lead
DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Avalanche have held serve in the first two games of the NHL’s Western Conference finals.
The Avalanche have a two-games-to-none lead after a flurry of goals and a backup netminder led to a 4-0 shutout of the Oilers.
Nazem Kadri set up goals by Artturi Lehkonen, Josh Manson and Mikko Rantanen during a 2:04 span early in the second period. Lehkonen and Manson tallied just 15 seconds apart, and Nathan MacKinnon capped the scoring late in the third.
Pavel Francouz had a 24-save shutout two nights after the Oilers scored six times in a Game 1 loss. Francouz replaced Darcy Kuemper, who sustained an upper-body injury in the second period of the opener.
Mike Smith made 35 saves for the Oilers, who host Game 3 on Saturday.
Sutter wins Adams Award
NEW YORK (AP) — Darryl Sutter of the Calgary Flames is this season’s recipient of the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top head coach.
Sutter oversaw the biggest one-year improvement by any team in the league guiding the Flames to the Pacific Division title a year after they missed the playoffs.
Sutter received 54 first-place votes to beat Florida’s Andrew Brunette and New York Rangers coach Gerard Gallant for the honor.
