NASHVILLE — A month ago, Calgary coach Darryl Sutter said playing the Western Conference-leading Avalanche in the first round of the playoff would “be a waste of eight days.”
He was almost right. Top-seeded Colorado needed just seven days to sweep the Nashville Predators.
The Avs, who never trailed in the first three games against the Preds, fell behind in Game 4 on Monday but showed they haven’t lost the art of the third-period comeback.
Colorado roared back at Bridgestone Arena to defeat Nashville 5-3 to sweep the series and advance to the second round for the fourth consecutive year.
Defenseman Devon Toews, winger Valeri Nichushkin and center Nathan MacKinnon (empty net) scored within the final 11:05 of the third period to pin Nashville with its first-ever series sweep and a fourth-consecutive first-round exit.
“They had a good game tonight and I felt like we didn’t have a great one,” MacKinnon said. “But that’s going to happen eventually. We found a way. That’s the key; you can’t always win when you have your best. You got to find ways when you’re not and tonight was one of those cases.
“We just know with all the skill and talent we have that we were going to get one some way. A lot of good looks. And we eventually got a few, so it was nice.”
Colorado, which will play the winner of the Minnesota Wild-St. Louis Blues series, earned itself some rest. The Wild and Blues are tied 2-2 with Game 5 of that series on Tuesday. The earliest the Avs could begin the second round would be Saturday.
“We got some guys banged up, need some rest,” MacKinnon said. “So it will be good to take a couple of days off, heal up. We’ll take advantage of it.”
Nichushkin gave the Avs a 4-3 lead with 7:58 remaining in the third period. He did the easy part. Star defenseman Cale Makar slipped past a defender against the left wall and delivered a back-door pass to Nischushkin, who one-timed it past rookie goalie Connor Ingram. MacKinnon added an empty-net goal with 55.9 seconds left.
Nashville took its first lead of the series at 3:58 of the third period when star winger Filip Forsberg collected his first goal of the postseason to cap a tic-tac-toe play with Mattias Ekholm and Matt Duchene. But Colorado, trailing 3-2, answered five minutes later when Toews beat Ingram with a wrist shot from the left circle.
The Avs got a solid game from goalie Pavel Francouz, who made his first start of the postseason. He stepped in for Darcy Kuemper, who was poked in the face through his mask and left early in Game 3. Kuemper had too much swelling around his right eye to see the puck, and AHL call-up Justus Annunen served as Francouz’s backup.
Colorado’s first two goals came from winger Andre Burakovsky and Makar to establish 1-0 and 2-1 leads. Burakovsky’s shot from the left circle sneaked through the net behind Ingram. Replays proved it was a goal after the first stoppage some 45 seconds later. It was Burakovsky’s first point of the series.
Makar scored his fourth goal and eighth point of the playoffs at 13:33 with a wrist shot from inside the blue line. But the Avs again failed to build on the one-goal lead.
Winger Yakov Trenin scored Nashville’s two goals in forging 1-1 and 2-2 ties. The latter came late in the second period on a bad line change by Colorado. Nichushkin failed to get the puck behind the Preds’ defense while the Avs were changing and Nashville came the other way with numbers. Francouz made the first save on Colton Sissons but Trenin picked up the rebound and went bar-down on the goalie.
A poor defensive effort led to Nashville’s first goal that tied it 1-1 with 1:01 remaining in the first period. Avalanche forward Nico Sturm had the puck on his stick in the corner but partly whiffed and Sissons gained possession. Sissons made a short pass to Trenin, who beat Francouz inside the far post.
Footnotes. Besides the goaltending change, the Avs used the same lineup from Games 1 and 2. The scratches were again forwards Alex Newhook and Andrew Cogliano and defensemen Jack Johnson, Kurtis MacDermid and Ryan Murray. … If Kuemper’s swelling decreases, Annunen could be returned to the Colorado Eagles for their AHL second-round series against the Ontario Reign. Game 1 of the five-game series is Wednesday in Loveland. … The Avs will return to Denver on Tuesday.
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