After getting thoroughly trounced in a back-and-forth affair against one of the worst teams in the league on Thursday, the Preds proceeded to repeat the process against one of the best today.
The Avalanche got a good early look, but the Preds pushed back. Alexandar Georgiev was busy, and then busier when Cale Makar got visibly hurt blocking a shot and tried to push through it and stay on the ice. Cole Smith got the Preds on the board at 3:41, and Makar headed right off the ice with the whistle. Colton Sissons almost managed to increase the lead a moment later, but Georgiev had the save.
Not to be held down for long, the Avs made their way back into the Preds’ zone, and Jonathan Drouin collected a great pass from Nate MacKinnon to tie the game at 5:25. The game heated up, with the teams trading chances. Kevin Lankinen had to make a spectacular, snow-angeling save on Drouin and MacKinnon again around halfway through the period.
The Avs kept pushing, and a collision with Ryan McDonagh sent MacKinnon flying into Lankinen and Lankinen spinning across the ice. It was called as a goalie interference penalty and the Preds got a power play, which the Avs responded with hostility to. Yakov Trenin led a great shorthanded sequence against his former team, before the Preds got a break when Miles Wood tripped Tommy Novak.
Just seconds into the two-skater advantage, though, Ryan O’Reilly was called for hooking. The players departed the box in sequence, with the Preds getting some determined chances on their 4-on-3 and MacKinnon showing up as a serious threat for the 4-on-4. It was Mark Jankowski who broke the tie, though, and 41 seconds later Dante Fabbro, in his first game back from injury, made it 3-1 Nashville at 13:43.
Forsberg and O’Reilly then combined for a fantastic chance off an odd-man rush, but Georgiev made a great save and had even better luck with the rebound, which he managed not to kick into the net himself. Late in the period, Kiefer Sherwood was called for cross-checking, and another cross-check on the power play–from Sissons, in the blue ice–sent Mikko Rantanen into Lankinen and prevented him from making a save. 3-2, at 16:11.
The Avalanche finished strong, around hostilities beginning to break out between Wood and Jeremy Lauzon, but despite pressure from the Avs and a couple of quick counterflurries from the Preds–including an attempted buzzer-beater from Cody Glass that didn’t pan out–the score remained as it was heading into the first intermission.
Gus Nyquist got the scoring started 57 seconds into the second period, picking up a very nice pass from Spencer Stastney. Georgiev’s reaction to this got him a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, and it being the fourth goal he’d allowed in under 22 minutes got him the rest of the evening off. The talented young Justus Annunen took the net on the penalty kill, and had the one shot the Preds made with the advantage.
Ryan McDonagh then collided with Ross Colton in open ice, causing Colton to collapse to the ice in obvious distress. The play went under review as a potential major, and was confirmed as not only a major but a match penalty for an illegal check to the head. While I don’t hate the call if it’s a sign that the NHL intends to crack down harder on all head contact leaguewide, it’s also very true that this was not an opportune moment for the Preds.
Down a defender, having to defend against a lethal power play with the long change and in Denver, the Preds got the first 2:31 of the major killed off–including a valiant shorthanded chance by Sherwood–before Artturi Lehkonen cut the Preds’ lead to one. Nashville got an incredibly lucky bounce as Rantanen tipped a shot off the post and out, and the Preds managed to kill the rest of the penalty and then regroup.
Lankinen was once again called on to come up big, but the Preds finally managed to settle in and start regaining some ground of their own. While they almost lost their lead with an own-goal on a delayed penalty, luck was with them again, and Wood headed to the penalty box after a touch-up. Sadly, the Preds were unable to score on the power play and Sissons immediately took a penalty of his own.
The Preds’ luck ran out there, as Makar went post and in with 20 seconds left in the power play, tying the game 4-4 at 18:25. The Preds counterattacked, pushing hard to try to finish the period, but instead it was the Avs who got a last-minute goal as Trenin scored with 29 seconds left in the period, with a little help from a missed penalty call against Colorado.
The third period started with more of the same, including another spectacular save by Lankinen when Wood got a breakaway. MacKinnon made it 6-4 Avalanche at 3:38, and tempers continued to heat up. The Avs got yet another chance on the power play when Trenin drew a hooking penalty from Luke Schenn at 6:54, but Nashville and Lankinen managed to kill it off again.
Finally with a good stretch of 5v5 time, the Preds started to find their footing again and reestablish some of the play they’d started the game off with. A lucky crossbar kept Drouin from adding to the Avs’ score, and some really determined defensive work by Cody Glass helped the Preds get a clear, but Annunen continued to be a wall across the net at the other end.
With Lankinen pulled for the extra attacker, MacKinnon added an empty-net goal at 16:10. The Preds got a late power play, with just under two minutes remaining, but it was no use for them. Forsberg’s goal streak went the way of the standings points, and time ran out.
The Preds’ next game will be on April 2 at home.