"We have to start mirroring our effort at home," Avs head coach Jared Bednar said. "Our commitment to play defense, the way we manage the puck and really, to be honest, the all-out spirit and the speed and the pace we play with has been much better at home and that's the goal tonight.
"A real challenge for us against a real good team, a real good team at home. We haven't had a lot of success against them recently so a good test for us, and I think our guys are up for the challenge here."
The Predators have won the last seven outings between the two clubs, but Bednar said that adversity will motivate the team.
"Nothing to be afraid of. For us, it is something we got to come in, we got to embrace it," Bednar said. "It's a challenge. It's a chance to earn some more respect around the league and continue to grow and mature as a group. If we can do that here tonight, it should give us a little bit more confidence moving forward as well."
Avalanche right wing Mikko Rantanen says that facing the Predators is not going to be an easy task.
"We have to work hard today. We haven't [beat] them in a long time," said Mikko Rantanen. "We know they are good at home, so we have to be ready to battle and play simple road hockey. We can't turn the puck over in the neutral zone, they will attack for sure after that. So we have to play simple and hard and that will give us the win."
On Thursday, Rantanen set a new career high in points (four) and assists (three) in the teams 6-2 win over the Washington Capitals. He was on a line with Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon, and they combined for 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in the contest.
"Playing with two great teammates, they are making my job easier to play," he said after the team's morning skate. "[They are] a big two players so we just have to keep playing like that and be responsible defensively too. It's not going to be every game like that, and tonight is going to be a hard game. They are a really good team at home, and overall too, so we have to be ready."
