Good & Bad: Avalanche Fall 2-1 to Struggling Nashville Predators

In their first game back from the 4 Nations Face-Off break, the Avalanche’s inconsistencies reared their ugly head again.

Colorado scored first but couldn’t get another past Juuse Saros in a 2-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Saturday. Instead of gaining two points in the standings against a winnable opponent on the first leg of a back-to-back, the Avs instead head to St. Louis on Sunday in need of a victory to avoid a disastrous start to the final 25-game stretch.

Trailing 2-1 late, the Avs started to pour it on but were stoned by Saros several times. The best save he made was on a magnificent slap pass from Nathan MacKinnon to Cale Makar. He read the play the entire way and was there to smother the puck off Makar’s shot.

But it still felt like the game-tying goal was within reach.

Head coach Jared Bednar pulled his goalie with 2:32 left with the faceoff deep in the Nashville zone. Instead of getting an opportunity to tie it up, the Avs were quickly whistled down for high sticking. Artturi Lehkonen got his stick up and under the visor of Preds defenseman Justin Barron and was handed a four-minute double minor penalty.

The faceoff was then sent back to the Colorado end and it took quite a bit of time before the Avalanche were able to set up in the offensive zone and pull the goalie again for one final 5-on-5 attack. But it was too little too late. Colorado dropped its second game against Nashville this season — a team that has struggled since opening night.

With the loss, the Avs are now four points back of the Minnesota Wild for third place in the Central Division and Minnesota has a game in hand. Colorado is also just five points up on the Canucks, who have three games in hand for an opportunity to jump into the top wildcard spot. The Canucks shut out the Avs three games before the break. They’re also riding a three-game winning streak.

Sam Malinski had the Avs’ lone goal. He opened the scoring off a setup from Jonathan Drouin early in the second period. But just 30 seconds later, Barron tied it up for Nashville with his fourth of the year.

The score remained 1-1 until midway through the third when Jonathan Marchessault put the Preds ahead. The Avs outshot Nashville 32-17 but Saros made 31 saves.

Scott Wedgewood was in goal for the Avs, finishing with 15 stops against the team he started the season with.

Good: Malinski Strikes

Malinski is one of two Avs who probably needed the 4 Nations break most. The other being Casey Mittelstadt.

Malinski scored his second of the season and first since Nov. 9 when he blasted it past Juuse Saros in the second period. Unfortunately, it was the only offense the Avalanche could muster.

Bad: Wasted Points

We’re at the point in the season where the Avs just can’t afford to give up points to bad teams. The Preds are 30th in the NHL, only Chicago and San Jose are below them in the standings.

Minnesota came back against Detroit and won in OT, the Dallas Stars defeated New Jersey in regulation and the Avs, trailing both of those teams, couldn’t muster a single point. Not good.