Homestand Part IV: Crushed

Well... that happened.

The Colorado Avalanche had a long layoff after the overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. That loss snapped a 17-game home winning streak, but the points streak remained. 22 home games, lost three--all past regulation. After three days off, the Avs were back in action against the Nashville Predators, and I always get nostalgic when the Avs and Preds get together. The teams met twice in the playoffs, in 2018 and 2022, and because of those meetings, I've always said that it's fun when these teams get together.

Friday night was clearly an exception.

Mackenzie Blackwood was in net against Juuse Saros, yet it was 1-0 Nashville 30 seconds in. Ryan O'Reilly with the tally. Almost a minute later, Brock Nelson ties it up for the Avs; Nelson's been on such a roll lately! The pressing continued for both teams, and at 7:32, the Preds got their lead back, and it was O'Reilly again. However, at 11:16, the Avs tied it up again, and it was Brock Nelson once again! What a period! It was O'Reilly 2, Nelson 2 after a first period that saw no penalties.

In the second frame, things quieted down a bit, then Martin Necas was held and tripped blatantly. Guess what? No whistle. Refs are allergic to calling anything in the Avs' favor. And about a minute later, the Preds take the lead again, and it's O'Reilly because of course it is. Seconds after the goal, Preds are called for interference. It's cosmetic. Definite makeup call, but hey, we deserve it after that crap earlier. PP was killed off, and late in the frame, Michael Bunting (who the Leafs should have kept) put it in to make it 4-2.

That was the score after 40 minutes, but early in the 3rd, Artturi Lehkonen made it a one goal game! Avs pressed for the tie, but we would not get it. Filip Forsberg scored late in frame to make it 5-3, and it was followed by a pair of empty-netters from Steven Stamkos and Michael McCarron.

The Avalanche were soundly defeated by the Predators, 7-3, marking our first home regulation loss of the season, and only our second time that we lost by more than one goal this year. I kinda predicted a lull for the Avs, because everything was going right for us. Technically, the lull hasn't happened, but if you go by 2025-26 Avs standards, it kinda is a lull. One thing I know about the Avs, having been a fan for so long (over 30 years dating back to the end of the Nordiques days): we don't stay down for long. We will bounce back from this. We will get back on track. We've lost back-to-back games at home, and we really got kicked in the teeth by Nashville. We'll rebound from this. We always do.

Next up on the homestand is a meeting with the Washington Capitals on Monday. It's an early start time due to the MLK Day holiday. That game will air on TNT, and while I'm at it, I may as well round out the rest of the homestand. After we face Washington, we face the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday, and the homestand ends against the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday. We are 2-1-1 so far in this stretch. That's still pretty damn impressive. Let's see if we can finish at 5-1-1 and take the next three games in this one.

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