The cellar-dwelling Nashville Predators scuffled through a forgettable first quarter of the season while the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche have thrived through 29 games.
The two teams on opposite trajectories meet in Nashville on Tuesday night for the first of two games in five days. They also play Saturday night in Colorado.
The Predators have the fewest points in the NHL (24), half of the Avalanche’s total. Although Nashville has only 10 wins, four have come in the last two weeks during a 4-2-0 stretch. The Predators are coming off a 6-3 loss Saturday night at Carolina that stopped a two-game winning streak.
Head coach Andrew Brunette lamented his team’s seven penalties that led to six power-play chances, including a 5-on-3 for the Hurricanes.
“We’re giving them freebies, free momentum,” Brunette said. “We keep doing this to ourselves. It was self-inflicted.”
Nashville killed off four of those power plays but its penalty kill, at 81.1%, ranks 16th in the NHL. It is one of the reasons the Predators are tied for fourth in goals allowed (100) entering Monday, while their 73 goals ranked 30th in the league.
Nashville is led by former Colorado center Ryan O’Reilly, who has 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists). Filip Forsberg (10 goals, nine assists) and Luke Evangelista (four goals, 15 assists) share second in scoring and Michael Bunting stands fourth with 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists).
The Avalanche won the first meeting, 3-0 on Nov. 22 at Nashville, during a 10-game winning streak. Colorado has just two regulation losses and has earned at least one point in 19 of its last 20 games.
Not surprisingly, the Avalanche lead the NHL in goals (115), goals against (63) and goals allowed per game (2.17). An already potent lineup got another weapon with the return of Valeri Nichushkin last week after missing eight games with a lower-body injury.
Nichushkin had the game-winning goal in a 3-2 victory Sunday at Philadelphia.
Nathan MacKinnon had an assist in Sunday’s win to add to his NHL lead in points. MacKinnon, who has two goals and an assist in the first three games of a road trip that wraps up Tuesday night, has 49 points (24 goals, 25 assists). He got his 24th goal in overtime Saturday at the New York Rangers.
MacKinnon is compiling an MVP-caliber season by piling up points in different ways.
“It’s not just off the rush. It’s not just on the power play, not just from one spot. It’s all over the place,” Colorado captain Gabe Landeskog said. “He’s got strengths, just like anybody else, but when some things aren’t working he’s going to find different places to score.”
Linemate Martin Necas has benefited and is second on the team with 39 points (14 goals, 25 assists). Cale Makar is third with 35 points (nine goals, 26 assists), which leads all NHL defensemen.
The Avalanche might not have goaltender Scott Wedgewood available. He hasn’t played since leaving the Dec. 2 win over Vancouver with an upper-body injury.
–Field Level Media
