MacKinnon stays hot, Avalanche defeat Predators

DENVER -- Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist, and the Colorado Avalanche won their 11th straight game at home, 4-2 against the Nashville Predators at Ball Arena on Saturday.

The home win streak is tied for the second-longest in franchise history, a mark last achieved in 2024-25.

“It's tough place to come play,” goaltender Scott Wedgewood said. “We’re physical. We're obviously coming at you, and then you get the third period in the altitude, and we're grinding through and teams have to keep pace.”

Jack Drury, Victor Olofsson, and Valeri Nichushkin each scored, and Samuel Girard had two assists for the Avalanche (23-2-7), who extended their point streak to five games (4-0-1) and are 13-0-2 on home ice. Wedgewood made 27 saves.

“I liked our game. I thought we played really well 5-on-5,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “Our PK, it was a little bit of an adventure tonight, but 'Wedge' was outstanding on the penalty kill. That's where we gave up our most dangerous scoring chances against, and I thought they gained some momentum out of that. And we did a good job 5-on-5 fighting and getting it back.”

Jonathan Marchessault and Tyson Jost each scored for the Predators (12-15-4), who are 2-2-0 in their past four games. Justus Annunen made 37 saves.

“I really liked our road game,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “They're a very fast team. They're the No. 1 team in the League for a reason, but I thought we hung in there. And I'll take that road game any night.”

MacKinnon put the Avalanche up 1-0 at 1:26 of the first period. He collected a pass from Brent Burns, sped into the offensive zone and sent a wrist shot from just above the left face-off circle that skipped off the blocker and then the top of the right pad of Annunen.

“When you have good goaltending, you don't really think about it,” MacKinnon said. “You just have to think about what you have to do to try to help them. Try to put pucks in the net, give them some run support, and yeah, that's about it.”

Drury extended the lead to 2-0 at 11:47 while the teams were skating at 4-on-4. His wrist shot from above the circles deflected off the stick of Nashville captain Roman Josi and then off the glove of defenseman Nicolas Hague before going in.

Marchessault cut the deficit to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 12:37. Ryan O'Reilly's pass from below the goal line connected with Marchessault in the slow slot, where he beat Wedgewood with a far side snap shot.

“I think it was a big goal for our group, for sure,” Marchessault said. “You never want to go down that road, you know. They had an early 2-0 lead, and you don't want to go down against the best in the League like that.

“I definitely would like to help my team 5-on-5. Yeah, it's good to get the power play going, but I mean, I used to be a pretty good player 5-on-5, and now I really struggle producing offensively 5-on-5. So definitely have to figure that out.”

Olofsson made it 3-1 during a delayed penalty at 9:57 of the second period. Girard's pass deflected off the stick of Predators forward Michael Bunting to Olofsson in the slot. Olofsson collected the puck and placed a wrist shot over Annunen's glove.

“A little bit of self-inflicted [damage]. A couple turnovers at our own blue line were really a lot of our issues,” Brunette said. “Some of our younger guys, this is a fast pace for them to play at. They may be a little bit lackadaisical in dangerous areas, and this team makes you pay. And I thought they grabbed a little momentum off those turnovers. We had our chances. Like I said, I'll take this game any day.”

Nichushkin scored into the empty net at 16:26 of the third period to make it 4-1, and Jost scored on a short breakaway at 18:57 for the 4-2 final.

NOTES: MacKinnon’s goal was Colorado’s ninth goal in the opening 90 seconds of a game this season, which set a new franchise record. … MacKinnon (51 goals, 70 assists in 80 games) recorded his fourth calendar year with at least 120 points (regular season and playoffs), tying Peter Stastny for the most in Avalanche/Nordiques history. The only active players with as many 120-point calendar years are Connor McDavid (seven times), Leon Draisaitl (five times), Sidney Crosby (four times) and Nikita Kucherov (four times). … The Avalanche’s 13-0-2 home record is their most wins through 15 home games in franchise history. … Colorado is the sixth team in the past 45 years to record a 15-game season-opening home point streak (2022-23 Bruins (22 games), 2013-14 Ducks (22 games), 2008-09 Sharks (22 games), 2019-20 Bruins (17 games) and 1988-89 Flames (17 games)).