Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and two assists as the Colorado Avalanche clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 7-4 comeback victory over the Nashville Predators at Ball Arena on Saturday. The Avalanche have qualified for the playoffs in seven consecutive seasons. Jared Bednar, who’s the coach at Colorado, said that’s his goal, right? Give yourself another chance and reach the playoffs.
Everyone has been putting in the dedication and hard work every season and it reflects that. It’s good to see that everyone has improved from last season. Jonathan Drouin, who had lost two in a row, had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche (47-21-6), Calle Makar had a goal and two assists, and Mikko Rantanen had three assists. Alexander Georgiev needed relief 57 seconds into the second period, after giving him relief Justus Anunen faced 22 shots and he stopped all 22 shots faced.
The Avalanche finished three points behind the Dallas Stars, falling out of first place in the Central Division. Dallas recorded a 3-0 win at the Seattle Kraken on Saturday. McKinnon said that there are best teams in this league and he played a good game against one of them. It is a bit difficult to play against him but he has done it well.
He made some mistakes and scored a goal but he was not giving up. It seemed that he was moving towards production very quickly. The way Jas arrived was amazing. He was really very harsh and difficult. He cannot ignore his progress. He has definitely calmed them down. Georgiev allowed four goals on 13 shots and took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty before being pulled. Bednar stated that he decided to make the change because it was not fast enough.
Kevin Lankinen, who has lost two in a row after snapping a franchise-record 18-game point streak (16-0-2), made 35 saves for the Predators (43-27-4), and Gustav Nyqvist had a goal. And there was a help. Nashville finished three points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings for the first wild card in the Western Conference playoffs and then finished four points behind the Winnipeg Jets for third place in the Central.
The Kings played a game on Saturday, losing 4–2, and the Jets lost 3–2 at home to the Ottawa Senators. Nyquist said that if he were to be honest, he played very well, especially when he was at 5-on-5. According to them, he makes it tough on them. He gets something on the power play.
The Predators were 0-for-5 on the power play; The Avalanche were 3 for 6. The last five goals of the game were scored by Colorado. Artturi Lehkonen cut Nashville’s lead to 4–3 with a power-play goal at 5:43 of the second period on a one-timer from the top of the right circle to the short side. Predators defenseman Ryan McDonagh was assessed a match penalty and game misconduct for an illegal check on the head of Ross Colton at 3:11, giving Colorado a five-minute man advantage.
Makar said that he did not know what the score was at that time but what he meant was that they had to gain more momentum. They have to find a way to get up to speed whether it’s two minutes, five minutes, or whatever. That’s why they think it’s too big for them.
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