Mackenzie Blackwood made 35 saves to help the visiting Colorado Avalanche extend their winning streak to eight games with a 3-0 victory against the Nashville Predators on Saturday.
Brent Burns, Nathan MacKinnon and Jack Drury scored for the Avalanche, who are 10-0-1 in their past 11 games.
Juuse Saros made 23 saves for Predators, who were shut out for a second straight game in their first contest after returning from the 2025 NHL Global Series in Stockholm, Sweden.
Burns struck 15 seconds into the first period to give Colorado a 1-0 lead, intercepting Michael McCarron’s backhand clearing attempt puck down the right wall and beating Saros blocker side.
It was Burns’ fifth career goal scored in the opening minute of game, tying him with Sandis Ozolinsh for third most by a defenseman in NHL history.
The Predators quickly found their game, jumping out to a 6-1 advantage in shots on goal by the five-minute mark and holding a 9-2 lead in attempts when the Avalanche recorded their second shot on goal of the period six and a half minutes into the frame.
Blackwood had to be sharp, as Nashville outshot Colorado 16-6 in the period. Luke Evangelista collected a turnover above the slot and put it toward the net, where Filip Forsberg gathered it on the doorstep. A minute later, Blackwood denied Steven Stamkos from the top of the left circle.
The Avalanche netminder came up big with a point-blank stop on Fedor Svechkov from the slot off a feed from Stamkos with 2:05 remaining in the period.
The two sides traded chances in the second, but the goalies stood tall.
Nashville had two of its best chances of the night in the third period. Nick Blankenburg’s shot from the right half wall hit the near post with eight minutes left. Two minutes later, McCarron took the puck down the right side and cut to the net, but Blackwood got the pad out.
MacKinnon scored an empty-net goal at 18:25 of the third and Drury added another at 19:09 to seal the win.
–Field Level Media
