Kane scores hat trick as Oilers clinch playoff spot

EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers clinched a playoff berth in style on Friday.

Evander Kane had three goals and an assist and Connor McDavid had three assists as the Oilers emerged with a 6-3 victory over the Western Conference-leading Colorado Avalanche.

Kane now has 20 goals in 39 games since joining the Oilers mid-season.

“Any time you join a team halfway through the season, it's going to take you more than a couple of games to really get your game to where it was maybe the previous year,” he said. “I’m continuing to develop some chemistry with my linemates.

"That takes a little bit of time, but I really like where things are at right now and I’ll just try to keep building on that.”

Evan Bouchard, Kailer Yamamoto and Kris Russell also scored for the Oilers (46-26-6), who have won four in a row and improved to 12-0-1 in their last 13 games on home ice.

“It was a game where we wanted to make a statement and keep the mojo going at home here, and clinch a playoff spot,” said Smith, who made 34 saves. “When you're playing against the best teams in the league, you want to bring your game to the level that we are capable of.”

Valeri Nichushkin had two goals and Nathan MacKinnon also scored for the Avalanche (55-17-6), who have lost three straight and fell for just the second time this season when leading after the first period.

“I think we had a handful of guys playing hard and playing the right way and a bunch of guys that weren’t,” said Colorado coach Jared Bednar. “If it continues, it’ll be a concern.

“It takes a long time to build the right habit and the right mentality and the basis of your play in order to win hockey games on a regular basis and it can disappear in a flash. We certainly don’t want to be letting this