"It was a game that we were chasing the whole day," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "They got the first one and scored a power-play goal. I thought we pushed and pressed the whole day. I mean, everything is going to line up in our favor except the scoreboard at the end of the night, but there were some things that I thought we could've done better."
MacKinnon gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 3:05 of the first period on a one-timer from the left face-off circle off a pass from Nikita Zadorov.
"We've had a lot of tough years against Nashville," MacKinnon said. "We haven't won very many games against them in the regular season. I think in the playoffs we gained a little confidence in this building. We played well. We were in a lot of games. These guys are tough to play against, but [Grubauer] was our best player tonight."
Kerfoot made it 2-0 at 14:41 of the second period on the power play. Mikko Rantanen passed across the ice to Kerfoot, who shot into an open net for his 11th goal.
Gabriel Landeskog extended the lead to 3-0 at 18:02 on a 3-on-1 rush. Samuel Girard delivered the pass across the crease, and Landeskog scored his 33rd goal.