Avs Conclude Back-to-Back at Predators

The Colorado Avalanche seeks its sixth straight win when it takes on the Nashville Predators in the second half of a back-to-back set on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena.
The Avs beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in the first contest of the set on Friday, propelled by two goals from Tyson Jost and 45 saves by Pavel Francouz. Samuel Girard also had two points (one goal, one assist), including the game-winner late in the third period.

Nashville is coming off a thrilling 4-3 win in overtime against the Calgary Flames on Thursday, as Mikael Granlund scored to tie the game with one second left in regulation, then netted the OT-winner just 1:20 into the extra frame.
The Avs are playing on "leap day" (Feb. 29) for the first time since 1999-00. The game marks just the third time that the Avalanche has played on Feb. 29th, having also done so in 1995-96. Before relocating to Denver, the Quebec Nordiques played on leap day only once, Feb. 29, 1988 versus the Montreal Canadiens.

It is the second of four meetings between the clubs this year. Colorado won the first matchup 9-4 in Denver.

Avalanche AT NASHVILLE PREDATORS

Bridgestone Arena | Nashville, Tenn.
| Game Time: | 5:00 p.m. MT | | --- | --- | | TV: | Altitude (blackouts apply), Fox Sports Tennessee (NSH) | | Radio: | Altitude Sports Radio, FM 92.5/AM 950 (KKSE) | | Live Streams: | NHL.tv, AltitudeNow.com, Official app (blackouts apply to all) | | Online Audio: | Listen Live Here | | Follow: | @Avalanche, Official app, Gamecenter |

COLORADO-NASHVILLE CONNECTIONS

Colin Wilson was Nashville's first-round pick (No. 7 overall) in 2008 and spent his first eight NHL seasons with the Predators… Samuel Girard (47th overall in 2016) and Vladislav Kamenev (42nd in 2014) were both second-round picks by the Predators and began their NHL careers in Nashville… Predators center Matt Duchene was the Avalanche's first-round pick in 2009 (No. 3 overall) and spent his first eight-plus seasons in Colorado… The Preds' Rocco Grimaldi played games for the Avs in two seasons from 2016-2018… Colorado's Tyson Jost and Nashville's Dante Fabbro played together with the Penticton Vees of the British Columbia Hockey League from 2014-2016.

HISTORY

The Avalanche beat the Predators 9-4 in the first meeting of the season on Nov. 7, the most goals Colorado has scored in one night this year. The Avs set a franchise record by scoring six goals in a span of 8:00 in the second period. Nathan MacKinnon led the effort with four points (one goal, three assists) while Joonas Donskoi recorded his first-career hat trick. Three more players had three points, and another three had two on a night in which 12 players made the stat sheet.
Colorado, which owns a 34-37-12 record all-time against the Predators, has won three of the last four against its division rival. Nathan MacKinnon leads current players in points against Nashville, with 25 (nine goals, 16 assists) in 25 games.

ROSTER REPORT

Goaltender Pavel Francouz played for the seventh straight game and started in his sixth consecutive contest, both career highs on Friday at the Carolina Hurricanes… Defenseman Mark Barberio and forward Logan O'Connor the were healthy scratches.

INJURY REPORT

Matt Calvert (lower body), Philipp Grubauer (lower body), Nazem Kadri (lower body), and Mikko Rantanen (upper body) are out but expected to return by mid-March… Colin Wilson (lower body) continues to rehab and do off-ice training after two surgeries earlier this season.

SCOUTING THE PREDATORS

The Predators (32-23-8) are in fourth place in the Central Division and have won their last three games. Nashville is 10-4-1 since Jan. 29, with 42 goals for and 42 against. Overall this season, the Predators have scored 199 goals to opponents' 198. They've converted on 16.5 percent of power plays (25th-best) and killed off an average 74.1 the other way, second-lowest in the NHL.
Roman Josi leads the team with 58 points (15 goals, 43 assists) and Philip Forsberg has the second most with 43 (18 goals, 25 assists). Thirteen players on Nashville have at least 24 points so far, tied with Colorado for the most players to hit the mark.

(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: Mikael Granlund

Mikael Granlund scored his 16th and 17th goals of the season with the tying and winning strike in Nashville's 4-3 overtime win against the Calgary Flames on Thursday. He's on a three-game point streak (three goals, one assist), with 29 total (17 goals, 12 assists) this year.
Granlund, who joined the Preds' at the trade deadline last year after six-plus seasons with the Minnesota Wild, has 23 points (five goals, 18 assists) in 27 career games against the Avs, the second-most he's recorded against any opponent.

NUMBERS GAME

6

The Avalanche has allowed just six goals since Feb. 19, fewest in the NHL in that span.

7

With the win on Friday, Colorado matched its longest road winning streak in franchise history, after also ripping off seven straight in 1999 (From Jan. 10 to Feb. 7). It is also the second-longest road winning streak in the NHL this season.

15

Colorado has killed off 15 straight penalties in seven games since Feb. 15, just one of four teams with 100-percent success in that span.

NOTEBOOK

Saturday marks the second of four meetings this year between the Avs and Predators. The teams' play again in Nashville on March 19, and then in Colorado on March 29… The game closes the 11th back-to-back set of the season for Colorado, which has 12 total this year. The Avs are 8-3-0 in the first contest and 5-4-1 in the second, and are looking to sweep their third straight set… The Avs are playing on "leap day" (Feb. 29) for the first time since 1999-00. In fact, it is just the third time that the Avalanche has played on Feb. 29th, having also done so in 1995-96… Colorado owns a 10-3-1 mark in February and is tied for the second-most wins in the NHL this month… The Avalanche's plus-48 goal differential is the best in the league… Colorado's 34 regulation wins rank second in the league.