Colorado Avalanche left wing Jonathan Drouin (left-handed) and Nashville Predators left wing Cole Smith during the second period of an NHL hockey game on Saturday, March 30, 2024, in Denver. chases the puck. (AP Photo/David Zarbowski)
DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and two assists, Yakov Trenin scored the go-ahead goal against his former team and the Colorado Avalanche fought back to put the Nashville Predators on the verge of a penalty by seven on Saturday night. They defeated them 4-4 and qualified for the playoffs. .
Cale Makar had a goal and two assists, Jonathan Drouin added a goal and an assist, and Casey Mittelstadt and Artturi Lehkonen also scored to help Colorado win after two straight losses. “I thought we played a really good game against one of the best teams in the league,” McKinnon said. “It's a tough team to play against, but we did a great job.”
Alexander Georgiev allowed four goals on 13 shots but was sent off less than a minute into the second period. Justus Anunen came off the bench and stopped all 17 shots left in the game, securing the victory and sending Colorado to the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.
“That's the goal, right?” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “To make the playoffs, give yourself a chance. It just shows the dedication that all of our players put in every season and trying to keep improving from the previous season. Yeah, it feels good. Yo.”
Cole Smith, Mark Jankowski, Dante Fabbro and Gustav Nyquist scored for Nashville, which has won just two games since Thursday's 8-4 loss at Arizona, which ended a franchise-record 18-game winning streak. He suffered his second defeat. Kevin Lankinen finished with 35 saves.
“Honestly, we played pretty well,” Nyquist said. “I think we were tough on them, especially at 5-on-5. We took enough shots that we probably could have scored a few more points. Obviously, special teams, that's the kind of thing where we lose the game. They score a few points on the power play. They don't.”
Three of Colorado's goals came on the power play, and the Avalanche defeated the Predators for the first time in three contests this season, reaching the 100-point team milestone for the third consecutive season for the first time in the franchise. However, Nashville went 0-for-5 on the power play. “We gave them too many chances,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “Obviously, some things went well, but the power play wasn’t great either.”
The Predators increased their lead to 4-2 less than a minute into the second period when Nyquist beat Georgiev with a wrist shot after a 2-on-1 break. A frustrated Georgiev was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct after the play and was replaced by Anunen.
Colorado scored the next three goals to jump into the lead. The turmoil began with Lehkonen's power-play goal at 5:43 after Ryan McDonough was given a major penalty and a game violation for hitting Colorado's Ross Colton with his shoulder in the face. Ross Colton slipped off the ice dazed and in pain. He returned to the ice late in the third period.
Makar hit a goal off the post with 2:35 left to tie the score at 4-all, and just over a minute later Trenin (acquired as part of a trade with Nashville on March 7) gave the Avalanche their first lead. brought about. In the game, he picked up a spilled puck between the circles and made a shot past Lankinen.
MacKinnon, whose 35-game home scoring streak ended with Thursday's shootout loss to the New York Rangers, added his 47th empty RBI of the season to give the Avalanche a two-run lead at 3:38 of the third inning. did. 3:50 left.
Both teams combined for five goals in the first period, with Jankowski and Fabbro scoring for the Predators, who scored twice in a 41-second span to take a 3-1 lead with 6:17 left in the period. Mittelstadt's power-play goal brought the Avs within one with 3:49 left in the game when he sent the puck into the net under Lankinen's glove.
next
Predators: Host Boston on Tuesday night.
Avalanche: Monday night in Columbus.
