Colorado Avalanche (21-2-6) @ Nashville Predators (10-14-4)
7:30 p.m. MT | Bridgestone Arena | Watch: Altitude, Altitude+, TNT, TruTV, HBO Max | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (92.5 FM)
After three contests against Metropolitan Division teams, the Avalanche concludes its road trip with a Central Division matchup with the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. This is the second of four regular-season meetings between the teams, as the Avs won 3-0 in Nashville on November 22nd and they’ll play in Denver on December 13th and January 16th.
Latest Result (COL): COL 3, PHI 2
Latest Result (NSH): NSH 3, CAR 6
Fun in Philly
The Avalanche defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Sunday to complete a perfect back-to-back. Brent Burns, Brock Nelson and Valeri Nichushkin scored for Colorado while Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced. The Flyers opened the scoring when Sean Couturier scored via a redirection from the right doorstep at 2:09 of the first period. Burns tied the game at 8:28 with his fourth goal of the season via a shot from above the right circle set up by Martin Necas’ feed. With that tally, the 265th of his career, Burns passed Nicklas Lidstrom for the ninth-most goals by a defenseman in NHL history. Nelson gave the Avs a 2-1 lead on the power play at 19:08 of the first period with his 10th goal of the season via a shot from the doorstep in a net-front scramble. At 1:47 of the second period, Nichushkin doubled Colorado’s lead with his seventh goal of the season via a right-circle wrist shot off the rush set up by Devon Toews’ cross-ice feed. Travis Konecny put the Flyers within one when he scored on a partial breakaway at 5:58 of the middle frame. At 4:54, the Flyers had a chance to tie the game when Trevor Zegras attempted a penalty shot, but Blackwood made the save.
Leading the Way
Nate the Great
Nathan MacKinnon leads the NHL in goals (24) and points (49) while being tied for fifth in assists (25).
All Hail Cale
Cale Makar leads NHL defensemen in points (35) and assists (26) while being tied for second in goals by blueliners (9). Among all skaters, he’s tied for third in assists.
Marty Party
Necas is tied for fifth in the NHL in points (39) and assists (25).
Series History
In 100 previous regular-season games against the Predators, the Avalanche has a record of 44-42-14. The teams have met twice in the playoffs, including the 2022 First Round when Colorado swept Nashville in four games.
Defeat on the Road
The Predators lost 6-3 to the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center on Saturday. In the first period, Carolina’s Taylor Hall and Nikolaj Ehlers scored power-play goals at 8:01 and 9:55, respectively, before William Carrier gave the Hurricanes a 3-0 lead at 19:44. In the second period, Jackson Blake put Carolina up four with a goal at 15:46. Sebastian Aho gave the Hurricanes a 5-0 lead at 4:45 of the third period before Michael Bunting put the Predators on the board with a power-play goal at 6:26. The Hurricanes took a 6-1 lead at 8:12 when Blake scored his second tally of the game. Nashville cut its deficit to three after goals from Matthew Wood at 9:09 and Filip Forsberg at 11:36.
Producing Against the Predators
MacKinnon has posted 47 points (20g/27a) in 39 regular-season games against the Predators in addition to 12 points (8g/4a) in 10 playoff contests.
In 21 games against Nashville, Nelson has recorded 17 points (7g/10a).
Makar has registered 23 points (6g/17a) in 16 regular-season contests against Nashville along with 10 points (3g/7a) in four playoff games.
Music City Scorers
Ryan O’Reilly leads the Predators in points (21) while ranking second in goals (9) and tied for second in assists (12).
Forsberg leads Nashville in goals (10) while ranking tied for second in points (19) and fifth in assists (9).
Luke Evangelista leads the Predators in assists (15) and is tied for second in points (19).
A Numbers Game
900
MacKinnon is scheduled to skate in his 900th-career regular-season game on Tuesday. The other three players to play 900 games for the Nordiques/Avalanche franchise are Joe Sakic (1,378), Milan Hejduk (1,020) and Adam Foote (967). In his previous 899 games, MacKinnon has posted 1,064 points (391g/673a).
1.8
In its 10 games since November 17th, the Avalanche has allowed an average of 1.8 goals per game, which is the fewest in the NHL during that time span.
.919
Colorado’s road save percentage of .919 is the highest in the Western Conference and tied for the third-best in the NHL.
Quote That Left a Mark
"I do think there is a maturity in our group. We have a lot of veteran guys now [that have] been around. The mentality [of] sometimes you don't have your best legs, but how do you compensate for that? So it's an intelligent hockey team. They play the right way on most nights and most shifts. Even if it's not perfect, I think we're still good enough in some areas that we can get the job done."
-- Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar on the team's success in the second game of a back-to-back
