Oilers Force Game Seven

Curtis Joseph's 31-save performance and two goals by defensemen lifted the Edmonton Oilers to a 2-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night.

The Oilers forced Game 7 on Monday, clawing their way back from a 3-1 series deficit to tie the Western Conference quarter-final at 3-3.

Doug Weight set up Drake Berehowsky early in the game and then helped to seal the win with another slick pass to Boris Mironov midway through the third.

The last time the Oilers came back from a 3-1 series deficit was in 1990 against the Winnipeg Jets, when they went on to win their last Stanley Cup.

The Oilers, riding an enormous wave of noise that rolled out from the stands of the sold-out Edmonton Coliseum, grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first period.

With the crowd of 17,099 lifting the roof off the arena, Berehowsky beat Avalanche goalie Patrick Roy for his first of the playoffs and a 1-0 lead at 3:10 of the first period.

Weight slipped across the Colorado blue line and spotted Berehowsky sneaking into the slot, slipping a perfect pass on to the defenseman's stick.

Once the Oilers had the lead they held on. Joseph, playing his best game of the season, was the main reason.

Joseph turned back several good Colorado scoring chances, including a sparkling pad save on Joe Sakic's wrist shot from the slot in the first period and another similar save in the second on a blast from Adam Foote.

The Oilers and Joseph also caught a huge break early in the second period when the Avalanche had a goal disallowed, just when it looked like Colorado was building some momentum.

Colorado's Valeri Kamensky knocked in a puck on a wild scramble in front of Joseph after the Edmonton defense had collapsed.

But referee Stephen Walkom went to the video review and ruled that Kamensky's foot was in the crease.

After that, the Avalanche seemed off their game as the Oilers' speed and hitting frustrated Colorado.

If not for the strong goaltending of Roy, Edmonton could have held a much wider margin on the scoreboard.

Colorado complained on the first Edmonton goal that Oilers forward Mike Grier was in the crease. Walkom, however, refused to go to video review.

The Oilers took a hit on the blue line in the second period when defenseman Frank Musil suffered a concussion on a check from Peter Forsberg.