Avalanche Game 17 Recap: WTF?!

With a three game winning streak, as well as a massive comeback win in Dallas, the Colorado Avalanche entered Nashville for the second leg of their two-game divisional road trip. In recent years, the Avalanche and the Nashville Predators have had some interesting encounters. This includes two playoff matchups, with the Preds winning in 2018, while the Avs swept them in 2022 during the Stanley Cup run. This meeting is the first of three between the clubs, but they will not see each other again until March.

The goalie matchup was Alexandar Georgiev vs Juuse Saros, who has definitely filled Pekka Rinne's shoes very well. The Avs had an early power play that was killed off by the Preds, who had one of their own later. However, on Nashville's PP, it would be Colorado who would strike. Andrew Cogliano netted a shorthanded goal to make it 1-0 for the Avs, with the assists going to Valeri Nichushkin and Cale Makar. After this, a parade of penalties were called, but it eventually went back to five-on-five in the period. In the final minute, however, Filip Forsberg tied it up with 18 seconds left, and it was 1-1 after 20 minutes.

In Period #2, the Preds struck early courtesy of Jeremy Lauzon, who gave Nashville their first lead of the game. Both teams pressed afterwards, and almost five minutes after Lauzon's goal, Devon Toews tied it up. Preds had a PP right after, that was killed off. Avs had a PP later on, but that was successful. The red hot Nichushkin scored at 13:33 to make it 3-2 for the Avalanche, and that was the score after 40 minutes. Entering this game, the Avs were a perfect 8-0-0 when leading after two periods, and as the third period progressed further and further, it looked like the Avs would remain perfect.

Then Saros was pulled.

Even then, with the final minute upon us, certain victory was inevitable...until Forsberg netted his second one at 19:22. So overtime was closing in. The Avs could use some OT; only one of the previous 16 games played needed the extra period. But then a crazy thing happened. Cale Makar made a rare miscue with the puck, Cole Smith ended up with it, then Yakov Trenin had it, and next thing you know, it's in the net. Two goals in 16 seconds, Preds took a 4-3 lead and went on to win by that score. Yikes.

For the first time all season, the Avs lost a game in which we scored first, and we also lost a game in which we led after 40 minutes, doing so in truly heartbreaking fashion. I still can't believe that all happened; the three game winning streak is over, but I do want to talk about one Avs player: Andrew Cogliano. I was elated when we got Cogliano; I remember him with the Anaheim Ducks, and I definitely remember him as part of the Dallas Stars' Cup Final run in the 2020 bubble. Cogliano did his part during our Cup run, including scoring a clutch goal during Game Four of the Final. This season, Cogliano has three goals, coming in as many games, and it includes one of our five shorthanded goals this season.

The game also marked Ryan Johansen's return to Nashville for the first time since the trade; Johansen played eight years with the Preds, including the run to the Cup Final in 2017. Elsewhere, Cale Makar added three more assists, cementing his status as the league's top defenseman. The Avs will look to make up for this defeat as we return home to face the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday.

* * *

Thank you for reading my recap! Click the heart if you liked it, click the subscribe button for more of my stories, and feel free to comment below! Tips and pledges would also be appreciated, but only if you want to do so!