HIGHLIGHTS
GAME RUNDOWN
Coming off a hard fought loss to the Los Angeles Kings, the Avalanche took a trip down south to the Music City for a one-game road trip against the Nashville Predators.
The first period was relatively even, with the Avalanche and Predators exchanging first period goals and firing 10 and 11 shots on goal respectively. The Predators struck first halfway through the first period when Craig Smith beat the Avalanche behind the net and fed Victor Arvidsson who crashed the net for a bad angle one timer. The Predators lead would not however, last long. In the final minutes of the first period, the Avalanche tied the game on a flukey bounce, when John Mitchell dumped the puck off Jarome Iginla‘s skate and past Pekka Rinne.
The second period would feature a few more unusual goals. At the beginning of the period the Avalanche would take their only lead of the night, when Patrick Wiercioch dumped a harmless looking puck into the zone from the blue line. The puck took a hop off the ice, however, and Pekka Rinne, unable to play shortstop, found himself staring at the scoreboard in disbelief.
The Predators responded to the Avs’ 2nd fluke goal in a big way, drowning the Avalanche in their own zone to the tune of a 12-3 shot advantage in the second frame. Despite some very good saves from Jeremy Smith, the Avalanche, too, were not immune to bad bounces in a game filled with strange goals.
The Predators tied the game midway through the first period when Blake Comeau fanned on an easy clearing attempt leaving Jeremy Smith to reach for the puck and put himself out of position. The always lethal Filip Forsberg was quick to pick up on the errors from the Avalanche and tie the game at 2. Minutes later, Forsberg would strike again. The Swedish sniper fired a laser on a set face-off play and while Jeremy Smith got a good piece of the puck, it bounced up over his shoulder and into the Avalanche net.
As an extremely talented defensive team facing one of the NHL’s most inept offenses, the Predators were able to sit back and play prevent hockey in the third period with relative ease. The Avalanche managed just 8 shots on goal in the comeback effort and aside from a Gabriel Landeskog chance that garnered an early video review, they didn’t create many opportunities to tie the game until the final minutes. With the goalie pulled Filip Forsberg stripped the puck from Nathan MacKinnon and fired it the length of the ice to complete his second hat trick in two games.
THREE STARS
1. Filip Forsberg – 3 goals, hat tricks in consecutive games
2. Roman Josi – 2 assists, 23:42 TOI
3. Jarome Iginla – 1 goal, 1 assist, 67 points in 67 games vs the Predators
PLAY OF THE GAME
Craig Smith and Victor Arvidsson hooked up for a high-speed, high-talent goal in the slot. That’s a tough pass and a tough angle for Arvidsson to score from, but the impressive sophomore made no mistake and buried the puck past Smith.
TURNING POINT
Nashville took over the game in the second period, with Filip Forsberg’s equalizer standing out as the point of no return for the Avalanche.
BY THE NUMBERS
WHAT’S NEXT
Colorado returns home for a rematch with Ryan O’Reilly and the Buffalo Sabres.
