Colorado Aims To Even The Series In Game 4

The Colorado Avalanche hosts the Nashville Predators in Game 4 of the opening-round series of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at Pepsi Center on Wednesday night. Colorado is coming off its first win against the Predators this postseason to cut Nashville's series lead to 2-1.

Recapping Game 3

The Avalanche scored three goals in the opening period of Game 3 on Monday en route to a 5-3 victory over Nashville. It was the first time since 2008 that Colorado has tallied three times in the first frame in a playoff game. Blake Comeau struck first for the Avalanche just 1:50 into the contest, marking the third consecutive outing that the Avs got on the scoreboard first against the Predators. Gabriel Bourque and Nathan Mackinnon each found the back of the net before the first intermission to give Colorado a 3-0 lead heading into the second frame. Nathan MacKinnon tallied his second of the night to extend the lead to 4-0, the largest lead by either team so far in the series. The Predators narrowed the spread to two goals before Gabriel Landeskog recorded and empty-net marker with less than two minutes remaining. Avalanche goaltender Jonathan Bernier made a playoff career-high 29 saves and earned his first postseason victory as a starter.

What To Watch

Master Chefs
It's no secret that Colorado's top line thrived at Pepsi Center during the regular season after the three forwards put up 161 points (63 goals and 98 assists) in 41 home contests. On Monday night, the trio showed what it had in store for the Mile High City in playoffs.
Mikko Rantanen finished with two assists to pick up his first career postseason multi-point outing.
Landeskog finished with four shots, five hits and three points (one goal and two assists)--the first three-point postseason performance of his career. MacKinnon tallied two goals for his first career multi-goal playoff game, recorded seven shots for a postseason career high and netted his second career playoff game-winning goal. MacKinnon has three goals and two assists in three games in the series and has now registered 12 of his 15 career playoff points at Pepsi Center.
Full Strength Dominant
After the Avalanche took the lead first in all three contests, the Predators' first goal in the last two outings has come during the power play, including capitalizing on a 5-on-3 situation in Game 3. With emotions running high, head coach Jared Bednar said the key to his team's success is to stand its ground but also keep all five skaters on the ice.
"In my opinion, we've been the better team 5-on-5. I think we have to make sure that we play that way as much as possible and stay out of all the ticky-tack stuff after the whistle. It doesn't do us any good, it hasn't been us all year, but I like our push back. We want to make sure that we're competing and not getting pushed around when the puck is on the ice, but after the whistle blows I don't think that stuff does any good."

Players To Watch

Colorado: Defenseman Patrik Nemeth
Patrik Nemeth finished Monday's contest with a team-high 25:20 time on ice and recorded a plus-2 rating, an assist and six blocked shots. The blueliner finished the regular season leading Colorado with a plus-27 rating, good for fourth among all NHL defensemen and the highest by an Avalanche player since Alex Tanguay in 2003-04. Nemeth also led the Avs in blocked shots with 185 and set career highs in points (15), goals (3) and assists (12).
Nashville: Left Wing Filip Forsberg
Filip Forsberg tallied a helper on Monday, improving his career playoff scoring total to 29 points (17 goals, 12 assists) in 45 postseason outings, the most in Nashville history. The left wing has three points (two goals, one assist) and 14 shots through three outings this series.

Lineup Notes

The Avalanche held an optional practice at Pepsi Center on Tuesday afternoon. Samuel Girard skated in a red, non-contact jersey and is still day-to-day with an upper-body injury after missing Game 2 and Game 3. Goalie Jonathan Bernier is expected to make his ninth playoff start and fourth in the series.
Nashville had a full practice at Pepsi Center on Tuesday. The Predators have yet to make any changes to their lineup in the first three games of the series.

The Details

Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs First-Round series between Colorado and Nashville begins at 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday. It will be televised locally on Altitude and nationally in the United States on NBCSN (some blackouts apply). It can be viewed in Canada on Sportsnet and TVA Sports. The radio broadcast can be heard on Altitude Sports Radio AM 950 or at ColoradoAvalanche.com.
Doors to Pepsi Center open at 6:30 p.m.