Gabe Landeskog scored one of the Avalanche’s goals in the 5-2 loss to Nashville on Saturday, giving him three goals and four assists in the past five games.
The Avalanche captain has 17 goals this season, but that’s still well short of his totals of 22, 26 and 23 in his previous three nonlockout seasons.
His goal against the Predators came off a pass from Nathan MacKinnon.
“It was muffin from the top of the circle that found its way under his glove,” Landeskog said of Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne.
Landeskog’s goal gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead after two periods.
“We just kind of stopped doing what was making us successful in the first two periods,” Lande- skog said. “We lost some pucks on the blue lines, and that’s extremely important in the third period. If we just stuck to the game plan and kept playing the way we were in the first two periods, we would have been fine. A couple of mistakes, and that’s what happens.”
The loss dropped Colorado two points behind Minnesota in the fight for a playoff berth.
“We’re just going to get right back to work,” Landeskog said. “There’s no easy answer. We’re going to put our work boots on, our hard hats on, and get back to work. There’s 15 games left, and that’s a lot of hockey.”
Comeau’s contribution. In addition to scoring the first goal of Saturday’s game, winger Blake Comeau had seven of Colorado’s 36 shots on Rinne. Tyson Barrie had five, Landeskog four.
Penalty kill report. Nashville was 0-for-4 with the man advantage. The Avalanche has killed off its opponents’ last 16 power plays and 28 of the past 29.
Saturday scratches. Defenseman Eric Gelinas, acquired from New Jersey last week, missed a second consecutive game because of a back issue. The Avs’ healthy scratches again were Andreas Martinsen and Zach Redmond.
Saluting the military. The Avalanche conducted its fifth annual Military Appreciation Day, with the team wearing fatigue-style jerseys during the warm-up and veterans and service members acknowledged before the game and throughout the afternoon.
Meet for brunch. The Avs won’t practice Sunday. They will attend and participate in the team’s annual charity brunch at the Hyatt Regency Tech Center.
