Rapid Recap: Avalanche 3, Predators 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--The Colorado Avalanche extended several streaks with a 3-2 victory against the Nashville Predators on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena.
The Avs have won six straight games and eight straight on the road, setting a new record for the longest road winning streak in franchise history. The last five wins of this six-game stretch have all been one-goal victories. Colorado's six straight outings with a victory matches a season high.
Gabriel Landeskog and Martin Kaut scored in a matter of 2:15 in the second period for the Avs to break the 0-0 stalemate from the opening frame. Landeskog tallied from a tough angle at the goal line off a feed from Erik Johnson at 13:23, and Kaut registered his second career goal with a wrist shot in the slot after a receiving a pass from Tyson Jost.

Johnson scored into an open net with 57 seconds remaining while goaltender Juuse Saros was heading to the Nashville bench for the extra attacker. The marker was Johnson's 300th point of his career and stood as the game-winner.
Samuel Girard and Cale Makar also had assists for Colorado. Pavel Francouz stopped 30 shots to extend his winning streak to six games, setting a new career long.
Viktor Arvidsson and Calle Jarnkrok tallied in the final six minutes of the contest for the Predators.
After also earning a win on Friday at the Carolina Hurricanes, the Avalanche has swept its third straight back-to-back set. Colorado will play one more back-to-back this season and improved to 8-3-0 in the first contest and 6-4-1 in the second of such series.
Statistics
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Photo Gallery
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Highlights
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Video: Coach Bednar Postgame

THE GOALS

1st Period
No Scoring
2nd Period
13:23 COL (1-0) - Gabriel Landeskog took a pass from Erik Johnson at the left circle, streaked to the net and flipped a shot over goalie Juuse Saros' shoulder from a tough angle near the goal line.
15:38 COL (2-0) - Martin Kaut scored on a one-time wrister from the slot on a pass by Tyson Jost.
3rd Period
14:40 NSH (2-1) - Viktor Arvidsson got behind the Colorado defense and scored on a breakaway.
19:03 COL (3-1) - ENG, Erik Johnson scored from behind the Avalanche goal line as Nashville goaltender Juuse Saros was going to the bench for an extra attacker.
19:58 NSH (3-2) - Calle Jarnkrok cut the deficit in the closing seconds of the game to make it a one-goal outing.
Final: Avalanche - 3 | Predators - 2

3 STARS

Selected by Fox Sports Tennessee

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 0 for 4
Nashville: 0 for 3

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Pavel Francouz started his second game in as many nights and made 30 saves.
Nashville: Juuse Saros stopped 28 of the 30 shots he faced.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Leap Win: The Avs won for the first time ever on "leap day" (Feb. 29) after losing in the previous three instances in franchise history.
Colorado last played on Feb. 29 in 2000, losing 4-3 at the Chicago Blackhawks. In the club's first season in Denver in 1995-96, the Avalanche lost 3-1 at home to the Edmonton Oilers. The Quebec Nordiques played on the day just once, falling 2-1 versus the Montreal Canadiens in 1988.

NOTEBOOK

Erik Johnson scored and added an assist to record his 300th career point, becoming the first player from the 2006 draft class to reach the milestone… It was Johnson's third multi-point game of the season and 18th game-winning goal of his career--his first this year... Pavel Francouz extended his winning streak to six games, setting a new career best. He has a 1.32 goals-against average, .957 save percentage and one shutout in that stretch… Gabriel Landeskog is on a four-game point streak (two goals, two assists)… Tyson Jost (two goals, two assists) and Samuel Girard (one goal, three assists) have points in each of their last three contests, both tying career longs… Colorado finished the month of February with an 11-3-1 record and has completed each of the five months this season with a winning record, the first time it has accomplished that since 2000-01... The team's 11 wins in February set a new franchise record for the most in the month… The Avalanche went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and has not allowed a power-play goal in eight games, killing all 18 short-handed situations… Colorado's 22 road victories are the most in the NHL this season… The Avalanche and Predators played in their second of four meetings this season and their first since Colorado's 9-4 win on Nov. 7 at Pepsi Center. The clubs meet again on March 19 in Nashville and March 29 in Denver.

QUOTABLE

Gabriel Landeskog on the road winning streak:"When you get on the road, something happens where you are forced to be with the guys, you are forced to go out for dinners and things like that. That is super important this time of year to have that close-knit group, especially with a lot of new guys, new faces coming in this season--it is important that we stick together. It is funny how it works, when you win on the road it seems to bring the group that much closer together and coming into April and May and hopefully June as well, it is going to be important that we are close-knit group and stick together through the ups and downs."

BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME

Who scored? I did.

ROSTER REPORT

Pavel Francouz made his seventh consecutive start and his second in as many days after also playing on Friday in Carolina. It is the second straight weekend that Francouz has started both games of a back-to-back set after also doing it on Feb. 21-22 at the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings… The Avs used an 11-forward and seven-defensemen lineup in the game and saw D-man Mark Barberio take shifts as a forward… Barberio was playing his first game since Dec. 18 at the Chicago Blackhawks… Logan O'Connor played his 10th game of the season and his third in Colorado's last four contests... Vladislav Kamenev was scratched.

INJURY UPDATE

Andre Burakovsky missed the game with a lower-body injury. He has been out for three of the Avalanche's last four contests… Matt Calvert (lower body), Philipp Grubauer (lower body), Nazem Kadri (lower body) and Mikko Rantanen (upper body) are out but should all be back by mid-March… Colin Wilson (lower body) continues to rehab and do off-ice training following two surgeries earlier this season.

UP NEXT

The Avs head to Detroit to take on the Red Wings on Monday at Little Caesars Arena to complete their three-game road trip. Colorado is in a stretch of playing eight of 10 contests on the road.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on the start of the game
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 13 Valeri Nichushkin
83 Matt Nieto - 37 J.T. Compher - 72 Joonas Donskoi
90 Vladislav Namestnikov - 17 Tyson Jost - 61 Martin Kaut
44 Mark Barberio (D) - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 25 Logan O'Connor
Defensemen
27 Ryan Graves - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 6 Erik Johnson
28 Ian Cole - 16 Nikita Zadorov
Goaltenders
39 Pavel Francouz
35 Michael Hutchinson