Recap: Avalanche fall 5-2 to the Predators

The power play is the only thing that keeps working.

A wounded caravan of hockey players headed to Nashville in search of a win. The Colorado Avalanche played the Nashville Predators close for most of the game but couldn’t capitalize on their chances and fell 5-2, which is now their third loss in a row.

The Game

It was a cautious start for two teams still looking to find their groove in this early season. While the Predators held a slight edge in shots 10-8 through a scoreless first 20 minutes of play the Avalanche had some of the more dangerous chances. Sam Girard saw a puck roll across the goal line and Joel Kiviranta shot a onetimer right at Juuse Saros but neither puck found the back of the net.

What has been going right for the boys in burgundy got the Avalanche on the board early in the second period as the NHL first star of the month Cale Makar quickly cashed in on a 4-on-3 power play at 2:54 with his patented wrist shot high in the offensive zone.

The Predators, however, found the equalizer from Steven Stamkos at 8:31 on their own power play. Nashville would find the 2-1 lead before the period concluded as Colton Sissons notched his obligatory goal on a tip at the net front at 18:40.

To open the third period, Roman Josi scored his first goal of the season at 5:15 on the Predators’ power play. It was more back-and-forth but no finishing until Jared Bednar mixed up the lines and put Casey Mittelstadt on the top line but to no avail. There was a brief glimmer of hope as Nathan MacKinnon scored on a crazy backhand shot right on the goal line with the net empty at 17:44 and cut the Nashville lead to just one.

Hope didn’t last long as Nashville proceeded to deposit two pucks into the subsequent empty net by Filip Forsberg and Gustav Nyqvist to arrive at the 5-2 final score and take away their victory.

Takeaways

The game was closer than the score indicated as the effort was present but some mental mistakes and lack of finishing ability made it tough to convert on the chances Colorado generated.

Despite the success of the power play and the extension of both Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon’s season-opening point streaks, it continues to be a struggle at 5-on-5. MacKinnon in particular hasn’t seen a lot of production with only four 5-on-5 points while being one of the league leaders with 20 points in total.

As much as Joel Kiviranta can skate on the top line his lack of skill is killing any chances the top players are creating. The impending return of Artturi Lehkonen — and hopefully others soon — should help balance the lineup but it also underscores just how thin the offensive depth that this team possesses.

A fun and totally unexpected consequence of the injury — and now suspension — barrage was the NHL debut of 2024 217th overall pick Nikita Prishchepov in just his seventh game of professional hockey. He played 13:30 minutes even with the shortened bench in the third period, put two shots on goal and delivered three hits. He was strong on the forecheck and created chances at the net front reminding a little of fellow Russian Val Nichushkin in style and impact on the game. Prishchepov’s team-leading 76.19% Corsi should also get the attention of the coaching staff, which should buy him a couple more games before more forwards return to the lineup.

Upcoming

At home once again for a rematch with the Seattle Kraken at 7 p.m. MT on Tuesday, November 5th.