The Avalanche previewed its potential first-round playoff matchup with a letdown defeat against the Predators.
Colorado fell 5-4 in a shootout to Nashville on Thursday in the regular season finale at Ball Arena. Predators forward Matt Duchene, formerly with the Avalanche (2009-17), was the only player to score in the shootout. Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Nazem Kadri all missed for the Avalanche.
Itap possible the teams will meet again with the Avs locked into the top seed in the Western Conference, and either Nashville or Dallas in line for the eighth seed. The Avalanche (56-18-7) has one more game, at Minnesota on Friday, before embarking on the postseason. Colorado has set a franchise record with 119 points on the year to surpass the 2001 Stanley Cup championship team.
But the Avs are in search of positive momentum after a late debacle Thursday.
The Predators — after trailing 2-0 early in the night — tied the game, 4-4, with 15:49 left in the third period on a Matthias Ekholm shot past Colorado starting goalie Darcy Kuemper. The Avs’ penalty kill held strong over the final minutes of regulation to force overtime. Neither team scored in the extra period before Colorado fell in the shootout.
“I had no problems with our game through two periods,” coach Jared Bednar said. “I thought we played well, especially through two periods, we didn’t give up hardly any scoring chances. I would say the difference in the hockey game, to be fair, is (Kuemper) had an off night.”
Cale Makar jumpstarted the night with a power-play goal at just 2:01 into the opening period. Kadri won a faceoff in the Nashville zone, Makar retrieved the puck, circled to the high slot and fired a wrister past Nashville goalie David Rittich. Colorado kept the pressure on about four minutes later when Artturi Lehkonen tipped in a Josh Manson shot for a 2-0 advantage.
Nashville didn’t fold. Duchene gave the Predators life with a snipe past Kuemper from just inside the blueline. Yet the Avalanche kept rolling when Logan O’Connor beat Rittich after Nashville’s defense lost sight of the puck to go up 3-1.
“We were mucking it up there in everyone’s feet and skates there for a bit. It was just sort of a mess there,” O’Connor said. “I was fortunate to get the loose one and try to throw it on net. It just sort of landed right where I shot it off (Roman) Josi and it landed right on my stick pretty much. Everybody was looking around. A fortuitous bounce, for sure, but it was nice to get a greasy one there.”
The Predators kept things interesting to begin the second period. Nashville forward Ryan Johansson narrowly snuck the puck inside the near post on a long shot. Once again, the Avalanche responded, with J.T. Compher scoring on a rebound in front of the net. But a power-play goal from Josi brought Nashville back within 4-3 entering the final period.
“It felt like we had momentum for a lot of the game and were doing the right things. A couple of unfortunate bounces,” Makar said. “Itap definitely something we can work to tighten up.”
The Avalanche celebrated its final home game of the regular season with Fan Appreciation Night at Ball Arena.
“Itap huge. In the regular season, you see what our record is at home and how our guys play. There can be a noticeable difference,” Bednar said before the game. “No one wants to take the night off in front of our fans. They don’t want to let them down. So, we come to play against St. Louis. They just give you that little extra X-factor going into the playoffs. We’ve had a great building on even some weekday games. It doesn’t really matter who is coming in here.
“Our crowd is energized and ready to go before we hit the ice. Our guys feel that.”
