Filip Forsberg and Yakov Trenin scored 16 seconds apart in the final minute of regulation as the Nashville Predators rallied to stun the visiting Colorado Avalanche 4-3 on Monday night.
Down 3-2 in the late stages of the game, the Predators were relentless in their pressure on Colorado goaltender Alexandar Georgiev (26 saves) over a 2 1/2-minute stretch.
Nashville tied it with 37.3 seconds remaining when Forsberg batted the puck out of mid-air and into the net for his second goal of the night and ninth of the season.
Then with 21.6 seconds to play, Trenin sent the home crowd into a frenzy when he chipped the puck past Georgiev, who smashed his stick in frustration as the Avalanche’s three-game winning streak came to an end. The goal was Trenin’s second of the campaign.
Jeremy Lauzon recorded his first goal of the season, Gustav Nyquist had two assists and Juuse Saros made 25 saves for the Predators, who have won back-to-back games — for the second time this season — after a four-game skid.
Valeri Nichushkin had a goal with an assist and Cale Makar recorded three assists for the Avalanche, who had won eight straight regular-season and playoff games against Nashville. Andrew Cogliano and Devon Toews also scored for Colorado, and Nathan MacKinnon notched two assists.
After a rather pedestrian first 10 minutes, things heated up in the second half of the opening frame. With less than seven minutes to play in the first, Nashville went on the power play, but Colorado got a short-handed goal with six minutes remaining. Nichushkin found Cogliano for his third of the season — all in the past three games.
Nashville subsequently made Colorado pay for some undisciplined play. Possessing the puck on a delayed penalty, Forsberg leveled the contest with a high wrister 18 seconds before the first intermission.
The Predators took the lead 3:56 into the second via Lauzon’s seeing-eye wrister. Nashville’s advantage didn’t last long, however, as Toews tied it on a slapper that got past Saros, who was screened by Nichushkin, with 11:05 left in the middle frame.
Colorado went back ahead when Nichushkin, perfectly stationed in front of Saros, tapped in Makar’s slap shot for a power-play score with 6:27 remaining in the second.
–Field Level Media
