EDMONTON -- It would be difficult to find a team much harder to figure out than the Edmonton Oilers. Taylor Hall scored a hat trick and added an assist as the Oilers bounced back from a stinker of a loss with a surprising 8-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. "Its always a fun night when you get a hat trick, but for us to win in the fashion that we did gives us some confidence," said Hall, who recorded his fourth career hat trick. "This homestand could prove to be big for us. "I havent been in this league long, but Ive been in it enough to know that anything can happen on any night against any team. You have to be ready for the opportunity. You just have to come out and play your game. Sometimes youre going to get eight and some nights youre going to get zero. And tonight was a great night." Ales Hemsky, David Perron, Mark Arcobello, Jordan Eberle and Sam Gagner also scored for the Oilers (10-18-2) who replaced a quarter of their lineup for the game after a 6-2 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes on Tuesday. The Oilers improved to just 4-9-0 at home, but have won six of their last nine overall. "I dont know if you see a score like that coming, but I think every morning you come into a game youre optimistic," said Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins. "Over the last few weeks our group has taken a step in mental toughness and something in that degree. I didnt see a win of that score coming though, I definitely thought wed be in a tight game." Nick Holden and P.A. Parenteau responded for the Avalanche (19-7-0) who had won two in a row and five of their last six coming into the game. Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov allowed eight goals on 28 shots, however three of those came in the final five minutes with the game clearly out of reach. "What happened in the last five minutes, we have to look at each other and play for our goaltender there," said Avalanche assistant captain Paul Stastny. "Those last two goals are on us. We cant quit on our goaltender like that. He has been our best player all year. Hanging him out to dry like that is unacceptable." Head coach Patrick Roy wasnt as upset after the game as could have been expected from such a lopsided score. "Im not disappointed at all," he said. "(The Oilers) played well and scored power-play goals, they scored on the rush. We knew before the game that its a team that it would be very dangerous to exchange chances with. If they go on the rush, its their game and we played into it. We need to learn from it. "They scored three goals in the last four minutes or so. It was a closer game than the score showed I think." The Oilers started the scoring before the game was four minutes old as Philip Larsen sent a long breakaway pass up ice that Hall was able to catch up to before sliding the puck through Varlamovs pads. Colorado had a chance to pull even four minutes later on a five-on-three power play, but Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk stoned Matt Duchene on a glorious opportunity at the side of the net to preserve the lead. Avalanche defenceman Jan Hejda had to be helped off the ice with eight minutes to play in the first period after losing an edge and going heavily feet first into the boards. Edmonton made it 3-0 with power-play goals just 15 seconds apart with just over two minutes remaining in the opening frame. Hall got his second of the night and ninth of the season with 2:18 remaining on a five-on-three advantage, unleashing a bullet of a one-timer from the right face-off dot. The Oilers then took advantage of the remaining time on the power play as Ryan Smyth sent a pass to hit Hemsky in full flight and he undressed Varlamov with a deke before scoring on the backhand. Colorado got a goal back four minutes into the second period as a Holden point shot caromed off a couple of Oilers players before ending up in the Edmonton net. The Avalanche made it 3-2 midway through the second period. Parenteau was able to swoop in and pick up the rebound of a big Dubnyk glove save on a point-blank shot by Gabriel Landeskog and hook it into a wide-open net. The Oilers went back up by two goals with eight minutes left in the middle period as Perron went in on a 2-on-1 before electing to shoot it himself. It was Perrons third goal in the last two games and team-leading 12th of the season. Edmonton restored its three-goal lead with 11 minutes left in the third period as a pass ticked off of defenceman Nate Guenin before Arcobello kicked it up to his stick and beat Varlamov. The Oilers made it 6-2 with just under five minutes left as Smyth showed good patience on a 2-on-1 before hitting Eberle for his 10th of the year. It was Smyths third assist of the game. Edmonton added insult to injury with a pair of late goals. With a minute-and-a-half left, Gagner intercepted a pass and then took a nice return feed from Hall before sniping the puck past Varlamovs glove. Hall then got the hat trick with just 11 seconds left as he tipped a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins shot on net and then followed it up to put home his own rebound. "There is tremendous amount of skill here and we have to utilize it on a daily basis," Smyth said. "We cant just sporadically use it. If we get consistent at it, were going to be successful." The Avs play the second of a three-game Western Canada trip on Friday in Calgary. Edmonton next plays host to the Flames on Saturday. Notes: It was the first of three scheduled meetings between the two teams this season. Edmonton came into the game with a fair amount of recent success against the Avalanche, having won seven of their previous 10 games at home against Colorado. ... Deeply disappointed in Tuesdays 6-2 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes at home, the Oilers switched out a quarter of their lineup from that game. Forward Will Acton and defencemen Denis Grebeshkov and Anton Belov were sent down to Oklahoma City while defenceman Jeff Petry and forward Jesse Joensuu were healthy scratches. Call-ups Anton Lander (forward) and Martin Marincin were inserted into the lineup, the first NHL game for Marincin. Also coming in were defencemen Philip Larsen and Corey Potter and forward Luke Gazdic. ... Edmonton goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov was put on injured reserve with concussion/whiplash symptoms after being run over in the crease last Sunday in Dallas. ... Avalanche defenceman Ryan Wilson (back) and forward Alex Tanguay (knee) remained on injured reserve, while veteran defenceman Cory Sarich was a healthy scratch for Colorado, which came into the game after a four-day break. ... The Avs came into the game having recorded a penalty-free game against Minnesota on Saturday, but allowed three power play goals on Thursday. Air Max 270 Flyknit Triple Black . "Last year we were in a ton of situations, late-game situations we couldnt pull out. Wed kind of fold under the pressure, get frustrated or let a big shot frustrate us," guard DeMar DeRozan said. Cheap Nike Air Max 270 . The Red Wings hadnt played the night before. The Boston Bruins had. A month from now, or two months from now, it doesnt matter. But right now it does matter, when you start and you play back to back, its wear and tear on you for sure, Babcock said. http://www.max270cheap.com/air-max-270-black-sale.html. Portuguese sides Benfica and Porto also advanced to the last eight while Basel overcame an early red card to win 2-1 at Salzburg and progress from a last-16 second leg that was briefly suspended because of crowd trouble. Lyon, Valencia and AZ Alkmaar will also be in Fridays draw in Nyon, Switzerland, where the team to avoid will be Juventus -- even though the Italian champions made heavy work of their all-Italian last-16 match against Fiorentina. Air Max 270 Wholesale . Johan Franzen had two goals and two assists, Gustav Nyquist a goal and three assists and David Legwand a goal and two assists in the Red Wings 7-4 win over the New Jersey Devils. Nike Air Max 270 React Discount . Long snapper Patrick Mannelly announced Friday that he is retiring after a 16-year-career with the Bears, a span in which he played in a team record 245 games and snapped the ball 2,282 times.CLEVELAND - Another trade and another loss. And LeBron James wont be back for another week.The Cavaliers appear to be a long way from NBA title contenders.On Wednesday, the Cavs addressed their biggest need — a rim-protecting big man — by acquiring centre Timofey Mozgov from the Denver Nuggets for two first-round draft picks.The Cavs announced their second major trade in three days during the first half of a 105-93 loss to the Houston Rockets. Cleveland, which has underachieved while enduring a rash of injuries, sent two protected 2015 first-round picks — one acquired in 2013 from Memphis, the other from Oklahoma City this week — to Denver for the 7-foot-1 Mozgov and a 2015 second-round pick.Mozgov averaged 8.5 points and 7.8 rebounds in 35 games this season for the Nuggets. The Cavs feel he can fill the large hole they had in the middle after starting centre Anderson Varejao was lost for the season with a torn Achilles.Cavs general manager David Griffin had targeted Mozgov for months and was finally able to land him — at a steep price.His numbers didnt need to be flashy, Griffin said. Weve got three guys that are top 20 players in the NBA. Those guys can be flashy. We need guys that do the dirt work. ... It fits our needs.Mozgov played for Cavs coach David Blatt on the Russian national team, and their relationship should make the five-year veterans transition a little easier.James, who has missed six straight games with a strained back and left knee, said Mozgov is a welcomed addition.Its something that we need, James said. Its something that once Andy went down, it was something obviously we needed to get bigger in the interior and adding a guy like that who can protect the rim, it will help our team as well.The trade for Mozgov was Clevelands second significant move this weeek.dddddddddddd On Monday, the Cavs dealt guard Dion Waiters to the Thunder and acquired guards J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert from the Knicks. Smith gives the Cavs a proven scorer off the bench and Shumpert is a strong defender, whom Blatt described as willing to take on the opponents top scorer.We need a guy like that, he said.Shumpert is recovering from a dislocated left shoulder and wont be ready to play for at least two more weeks.Smith comes with some baggage. While there is no denying his basketball skill, Smith hasnt always been regarded as a team player, but Griffin said the Cavs have no major concerns about him.His issues have never been as a teammate, Griffin said. J.R. comes to battle, he competes on a consistent basis.Smith went scoreless in his Cleveland debut, missing five shots, including four 3-pointers, in nearly 18 minutes.Last season, Smith was fined $50,000 for untying the shoelaces of three players, including his new Cavaliers teammate Shawn Marion, who felt the incident was blown out of proportion by the media.He should have paid half of it (the fine) then, Smith said, laughing. That was way overblown. Ive been doing it so long. It was surprising they caught it that year. It seemed like one thing after another. Ive been playing against Shawn a long time. It was nothing personal. I didnt try to hurt guys. It was a joke that got taken too far.Smith, who has known James since high school, has no doubt that hell be able to fit in nicely with the Cavs. It wont take him long to figure out Blatts offence.I try to space the floor as much as I can, Smith said. When worst come to worst, my motto is, When in doubt, shoot the ball. Hopefully that wont catch anybody off guard.___AP Sports Writer Jon Krawczynski in Minneapolis contributed to this report. ' ' '