Colorado Avalanche Sweep the Predators Handily

The Colorado Avalanche obliterated the Nashville Predators in a quick 4 games during this year’s playoffs. Colorado is the first team to take care of business in the league as all the other series are still going on. This will give the Avs almost a week to get some rest before taking on either the Minnesota Wild or St. Louis Blues who are playing in a tight series that could potentially go to 7 games. Nashville, who became the 2nd wild card team, almost avoided playing the Avalanche if they could’ve just gotten 1 point against the Arizona Coyotes in the last game of the regular season. The Predators were leading 4-0 in the 1st period just before blowing and losing 5-4 in regulation, forcing them to have to face the best team in the west.

Game 1 was truly an electric atmosphere at Ball Arena. The anticipation for the Avs to start their cup run was felt throughout the arena. Nashville came into the game looking to spoil their chances. However, from the start, the Avalanche exploded in the 1st period with 5 goals. Nathan MacKinnon, a man on a mission, got it started on the early powerplay opportunity to electrify the crowd even more. 22 seconds later, Devon Toews added to the lead. The Predators needed an opportunity and were granted a powerplay down 2-0, however Andrew Cogliano on the forecheck forced a turnover to convert on a short-handed goal to extend the lead. Cale Makar, had a highlight reel goal to make it 4-0. Artturi Lehkonen joined the scoring to have it become 5 unanswered. David Rittich then got pulled after only stopping 8 of 13 shots. This would eventually be the last game he’d appear in. Connor Ingram came in with limited experience. The 2nd period was a little less eventful, but Gabriel Landeskog broke through in his first game back since the middle of March. Nathan MacKinnon then put on the final touches of this 7-2 blow out with his 2nd goal of the night. Matt Duchene, the former Av had both of the Predators goals, which didn’t matter at all. Makar and MacKinnon both had 3 points on the night, while 8 other players found the score sheet for the Avs. An incredible opener to the playoffs.

Game 2 was less of a scoring affair. Connor Ingram got the start, which would only be his 4th start ever in the league. It was a physical one as Avs had 53 hits and Preds had 57. Nathan MacKinnon once again became the 1st one to score early on the first shot of the game to energize Ball Arena. From there, the Predators responded on a 2 on 1 break after Samuel Girard was overly aggressive which would result in Yakov Trenin finding the back of the net to tie it after the 1st period of play. The rest of the game became the Connor Ingram show. He stopped an Avalanche of chances, by remaining a wall of invincibility. He eventually forced the game to head into overtime. After a continuous persistent effort, Cale Makar finally got one past Ingram to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the series. Cale Makar had 22 shot attempts and 12 shots registered on goal. Colorado had 51 shots vs Nashville’s 26 on the night. Connor Ingram had an amazing game, but the lack of offense for the Predators would result in a loss.   

Game 3 would head over to the loud crowd at Bridgestone Arena. Connor Ingram would once again get the nod after his amazing performance in game 2. The Avalanche struck 1st to silence the crowd for 2 unanswered tallies, both on the powerplay. Artturi Lehkonen and Nathan MacKinnon were the 2 responsible. But, the Preds would respond quickly after, as Matt Duchene flicked one near the slot to cut the deficit in half. In the 2nd period, Darcy Kuemper had to exit with an apparent injury from getting a stick to the eye from Ryan Johanson. Pavel Francouz would have to enter in relief. Later, the Preds tied it with a Eeli Tolvanen powerplay goal. The Captain Gabriel Landeskog reclaimed the lead, just for the Roman Josi to equalize it shortly after. Landeskog then scored his 2nd of the game to reclaim the lead yet again. At this point, the Predators had no response. 3 more goals were scored by Nazem Kadri, Devon Toews, and Val Nichushkin to finish it 7-3. The Predators made it a game, but couldn’t hang with the back and forth since they don’t have the firepower that the Avs have. Colorado was relentless on the powerplay by going 4 for 5. Nashville was once again physical, accumulating up to 55 hits, but it takes some skill to win hockey games.  

The Predators head into game 4 looking to avoid the sweep. Pavel Francouz would be the starter for the Avs as Kuemper is still recovering from the injury sustained from game 3. Andre Burakovsky broke the ice and shot a puck that went through the net to take the early 1-0 lead. Yakov Trenin responded for his club to be tied heading into the 2nd frame of play. Cale Makar once again using his brilliance, took the lead back with a snipe from the point. Yakov Trenin for the 2nd time found twine to make it 2-2. For the first time in the series, Filip Forsberg scored to give Nashville their first lead of any kind. Despite this excitement, Devon Toews equalized it and Val Nichushkin took back the lead. Nathan MacKinnon, who scored in the previous 3 games, had the empty net dagger to seal the series. 

Handshakes were in order to conclude the duration of the series. The Preds perhaps hoped that they held on against the Coyotes prior to this. As for the Avs, they completed a dominant performance from their stars. Nathan Mackinnon played incredibly with 5 goals and 1 assist. He currently sits on the top 4 on a list of all time players for points per game in the playoffs with 1.389. However, he has given all the credit to Cale Makar, who also played a monstrous series. Makar had 3 goals and 7 assists, adding up to 10 points in the series. MacKinnon had this to say about the Norris finalist: “he might be one of the best (Defensemen) to ever play by the end of his career”. A massive compliment by a fellow elite player. Not only were these 2 stars playing well, but the whole team was. Devon Toews on the back end had 5 points including 3 goals, Gabriel Landeskog had 6 points, Mikko Rantenen didn’t have any goals, but grabbed 5 assists. Kuemper and Francouz also played well to keep the Preds from scoring more than 3 goals in any game of the series. Now the Avs are looking to get past the 2nd round which will take place against the winner of the Wild and Blues series. In order to be deemed a successful season, they’ll at a minimum have to make it to the conference finals. A well earned break to rest up before their next battle.    

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