Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored two of Edmonton's four second-period goals, and the surging Oilers beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-4 on Tuesday night in Denver.

Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists, and Connor McDavid, Darnell Nurse and Kyle Brodziak had a goal and an assist each for Edmonton, which has won four straight and improved to 8-2-1 since Ken Hitchcock took over as coach.

Mikko Koskinen made 39 saves to win his second straight game. He blanked the Calgary Flames 1-0 on Sunday.

Colorado's Mikko Rantanen had a goal and three assists to increase his NHL-leading points total to 52. Gabe Landeskog had two goals and two assists, and Colin Wilson also scored for the Avalanche, who have lost three of four following a 9-0-2 stretch. Colorado has allowed 21 goals in its past four games.

Semyon Varlamov has given up 14 of those goals in three starts. He allowed six goals at Pittsburgh and five at Tampa Bay on Saturday before being pulled in a 7-1 loss. He was removed Tuesday after allowing the first three goals on 18 shots.

Philipp Grubauer came on and allowed three goals on the first six shots he faced. He finished with five saves.

Brodziak gave Edmonton a 1-0 lead in the first period, and then the Oilers broke it open in the second. Nugent-Hopkins scored a power-play goal at 9:26 and then made it 3-0 with his 10th goal at 13:37, chasing Varlamov.

Just 1:37 later, McDavid scored his 17th on the first shot Grubauer faced. Colorado finally got one by Koskinen when Rantanen's wrister beat him under his right arm at 16:01, but Edmonton responded 42 seconds later on Draisaitl's 16th of the season.

Wilson's power-play goal early in the third period made it 5-2 and gave Colorado some pep, but Nurse restored the four-goal lead 1:24 later with his fourth.

Landeskog added his 18th and 19th in the final four minutes, but the Avalanche's comeback effort fell short.

--Field Level Media