NASHVILLE, tenn. — Another late-game rally resulted in another two-point failure for the Avalanche on Tuesday.
In beginning a consecutive-game set with the Nashville Predators, Colorado rallied to force overtime before losing 4-3 in Music City.
Craig Smith beat goalie Semyon Varlamov on a breakaway 2:46 into OT, just after the Avs’ Zach Redmond was denied the winner at the other end on a slap shot off a pass from Alex Tanguay.
“He took a great shot. It was close,” Tanguay said of Redmond’s blast that was stopped by backup goalie Carter Hutton. “We had traffic in front, and it was a good save for (Hutton). It’s a great point for us but definitely frustrated with the outcome in overtime. We had our big chance, and then they had theirs. And they scored.”
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Colorado, which has points in five of its past six games but has won in regulation just once during that stretch (2-1-3), hosts the Predators on Friday at the Pepsi Center.
Hutton made 21 saves, facing just 14 shots in the first two periods at Bridgestone Arena.
“There was a save that had to be made right before Smith scored,” Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said of Hutton’s 21st and final save.
Avs defenseman Nick Holden scored on a 6-on-5 attack with 35 seconds remaining to force OT and give the Avs a point. Nashville, which improved to 19-2-1 at home, broke a 2-2 tie 32 seconds into the third period on rookie Filip Forsberg’s unassisted goal.
Varlamov had 35 saves but was not at his best, among others.
“We probably weren’t at our best, but we hung in on the road and had some big pushes with the crowd behind them,” said Avs winger Jarome Iginla, who scored his team-leading 15th goal to tie it 2-2. “We weathered the storm, hung in there, and got a big goal late. It’s a big point for us. It doesn’t feel good now because you’d love to walk out of here with two.”
The Avs, playing the first of many games without top defenseman Erik Johnson, didn’t reach 20 shots until the final minute of regulation. Both teams were playing their first game after the all-star break.
The Avs got their other goals from forwards Cody McLeod and Iginla. McLeod made it 1-0 by redirecting Redmond’s shot from the point, and Iginla tied it 2-2 with a big blast from above the right circle.
After Nashville put two pucks past Varlamov in the second period, Iginla scored off a drop pass from center Matt Duchene to make it 2-2 after two.
Varlamov contributed to Forsberg’s unassisted goal, throwing the rebound off Forsberg’s shot to the circle where Forsberg tracked it down and put it in the net from a bad angle. Defenseman Roman Josi and forward Colin Wilson (power play) both used slap shots to beat Varlamov in the second period.
Mike Chambers: mchambers@denverpost.com or Twitter: @MikeChambers
