Avalanche at Predators
The Nashville Predators produced one of their best performances of the season last time out and look to carry it over when the Colorado Avalanche pay them a visit on Saturday. The Predators scored three goals in the first period en route to a 5-1 victory over Chicago on Thursday after winning just three of their previous 11 contests.
“You’re going to go through dips throughout the year, but we’re growing as a team and we’re getting older,” forward James Neal, who scored a pair of goals Thursday, told reporters. “We know how to battle through those. It shows with our response (Thursday).” Nashville will try to win back-to-back games for the first time since Nov. 14 and 17, while Colorado is coming off a 4-2 loss to Pittsburgh at home on Wednesday. The Avalanche could be without captain Gabriel Landeskog (back spasms), and Nathan MacKinnon needs to snap out of a slump after managing one point in his last six games. Colorado is 3-2-0 this month but has scored only eight goals in that span.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Altitude (Colorado), FSN Tennessee (Nashville)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (12-16-1): Part of the team's downturn offensively is a power play that has gone without a goal in six straight games (0-for-13), while the penalty kill (18-for-19 over nine games) has been solid. While MacKinnon has cooled off, leading scorer Matt Duchene (26 points) has netted three goals in five contests this month while Carl Soderberg has notched nine points in 10 games. Semyon Varlamov is expected back in net after resting Wednesday and is 4-2-0 in his last six decisions.
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (15-9-5): Defenseman Roman Josi has produced three goals and five assists with a plus-4 rating during his six-game point streak and leads the team in scoring with 22 points. Neal’s two tallies Thursday snapped him out of a scoring slump (one goal in his previous 11 contests) while captain Shea Weber has registered six points in the last four games during which Nashville went 2-1-1. Pekka Rinne may have found his top form Thursday, turning aside 35 shots after going 1-5-2 in his previous eight games.
OVERTIME
1. Nashville LW Colin Wilson (lower body) has missed the last two games and is questionable for Saturday.
2. Colorado RW Jarome Iginla has gone five games without a point and has recorded just one goal in his last 14 contests.
3. The Predators won three of their five meetings with the Avalanche last season, including both at home.