Preds hand Avs second loss of season
The official game recap Colorado Avalanche vs Nashville Predators.Playing away from home certainly seems to agree with the Nashville Predators, which is definitely a good thing considering they are on a marathon road trip.
Not known as an offensive force, the Predators got four points from Colin Wilson on Wednesday night to defeat the Colorado Avalanche 6-4 at Pepsi Center, ending the Avalanche's winning streak at six games. The loss was the Avalanche's second in 14 games this season.
The Predators are 2-0-1 in the first three games of a seven-game, 17-day trip that doesn't end until Nov. 15 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Wilson, who began the night with five points (one goal, four assists) in 14 games, nearly matched that total against the Avalanche with two goals and two assists.
His second goal of the game snapped a 4-4 tie at 7:34 of the third period. Wilson moved in alone on goalie Semyon Varlamov to score off a pass from Viktor Stalberg following an Avalanche turnover.
After Gabriel Landeskog nearly tied matters for the Avalanche when his backhanded shot clanged off the crossbar with 5:30 to play, Gabriel Bourque sealed the deal for the Predators by scoring into an empty net with 17.5 seconds left in regulation.
The Avalanche tied the game 4-4 at 4:23 of the third period on Matt Duchene's 10th goal. Duchene gained possession after Cory Sarich's pass deflected off a Predators stick. He used his speed to skate between defensemen Kevin Klein and Roman Josi before scoring against goalie Carter Hutton.
Wilson collected his third point of the game with a power-play goal at 6:47 of the second period to give the Predators a 4-2 lead, but the Avalanche answered at 13:37 when Paul Stastny moved down the slot and redirected Jamie McGinn's pass behind Hutton.
The Predators went ahead 3-2 at 3:14 when Paul Gaustad tipped Filip Forsberg's shot from near the right-wing boards past Varlamov after Forsberg stopped the puck when Sarich tried to ring it around the boards.
Gaustad's goal came 59 seconds after Ryan O'Reilly tied the game for the Avalanche. PA Parenteau gave O'Reilly a drop pass and he ripped a shot that beat Hutton to the glove side.
The Avalanche wanted to start quickly, but the Predators opened the scoring and took a 2-1 lead in the first period on goals by Stalberg and Craig Smith.
Stalberg, scored his first goal of the season when he converted Wilson's pass at 13:12 after Varlamov made a save against Mattias Ekholm. Wilson scooped up the rebound at the right side of the crease, moved behind the net and passed to Stalberg at the left side for a chip shot into a half-empty net.
The Avalanche tied the score at 15:23 when Duchene fed Parenteau on a 2-on-1 rush. Duchene deflected an attempted centering pass by Predators defenseman Seth Jones in the Avalanche end, reversed field and skated down the right wing into the Nashville end. Parenteau moved down the opposite side with Shea Weber defending and scored from in tight.
Smith scored from the slot for a power-play goal with 52.8 seconds remaining in the period after McGinn was assessed a charging penalty for his hit against Jones behind the Predators net.
-- by Rick Sadowski for NHL.com --
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07/11/2013 - 06:43
