Predators rally in third, KO Avalanche
DENVER -- Filip Forsberg and Mike Fisher scored goals in the third period, Pekka Rinne had 28 saves and the Nashville Predators beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Saturday.
Cody McLeod also scored a day after Nashville acquired him from Colorado. The Avalanche honored him with a video tribute early in the first period, and then he dropped the gloves with Jarome Iginla early in the second period.
Gabriel Landeskog and Francois Beauchemin scored and Semyon Varlamov had 29 saves for Colorado, which has lost 12 of 13 at home.
McLeod's arrival coincided with the return of forward James Neal, who missed five games with an upper-body injury. McLeod made an instant impact when he crashed the net and his skate deflected a pass from Harry Zolnierczyk past Varlamov to make it 2-1 at 7:52 of the second.
The score stayed that way into the third before Nashville (20-16-7) struck twice in a span of 3:06. Fisher tied it five minutes in when he went in alone on Varlamov and beat him with a backhand. It was his 12th of the season.
Forsberg, who went off in the first period after a hard hit, scored at 8:06 with a quick shot off the faceoff.
Varlamov went off for an extra skater with 2:10 left but Colorado couldn't score.
Things got heated late in the second period when Colorado's Rene Bourque was given a five-minute boarding major and a game misconduct when he checked Nashville's Viktor Arvidsson face first into the boards in front of both benches.
Arvidsson went to the locker room briefly but quickly returned to the bench.
The Avalanche (13-27-1) took a 2-0 lead with goals in the first and second period. Landeskog got the first one when his shot from the side of the net went off Rinne's skate and in at 4:07 of the first. It was his eighth of the season.
Beauchemin's first goal doubled the lead when his shot from between the circles beat Rinne at 2:21 of the second.
NOTES: The Predators placed Roman Josi and Colin Wilson on injured reserve on Friday. Josi was injured in the first period of a victory over Boston on Thursday. Wilson missed the three previous games because of an upper-body injury. ... With the trade of Cody McLeod to Nashville, Matt Duchene is the longest-tenured player with Colorado. Duchene, who turns 26 on Monday, is in his eighth season after being selected third overall in the 2009 draft. ... Nashville D Alexandre Carrier, recalled Thursday, was a scratch. He has yet to play in an NHL game. LW Kevin Fiala and C Mike Ribeiro also were scratched. ... The Avalanche played their second of three afternoon games at home.