DENVER —  High-sticking proved to be a central point of controversy Saturday night as the Colorado Avalanche continued their dominance at Ball Arena, earning their 11th consecutive home victory with a 4–2 win over the Nashville Predators.  

Colorado remains unbeaten in regulation on home ice this season, improving to 13-0-2, a run that has firmly established Ball Arena as one of the league’s most imposing environments.  

But the sequence that most inflamed the 18,130 in attendance came moments later. After Victor Olofsson struck in the second period to give Colorado a 3–1 lead, Josh Manson went down hard in apparent pain after what initially appeared to be a high stick from Tyson Jost. Manson—who had briefly exited in the first period before returning—remained on the ice for several moments, visibly bleeding, before rising and exchanging shoves with a cluster of Predators. 

Manson Call Was Correct 

Officials initially assessed Jost a four-minute double minor for high-sticking, a call that seemed justified given the visible injury. Following a brief review, however, the ruling was overturned. Video showed Jost lifting his stick as Manson’s own stick rode up and caught him in the face, leading officials to rescind the penalty entirely and draw an immediate chorus of boos from the crowd. Jost would end up visiting the sin bin twice for real later in the period, once for hooking Olofsson, and the second time for, ironically, high-sticking Gabe Landeskog.  

Despite the boos that were raining down from the partisan crowd, Bednar agreed with the officials. 

“That was his stick (that made contact with him), so that’s the right call.” 

Nichushkin Gets Ripped Open 

But the most glaring moment came when Valeri Nichushkin had his mouth split open by a high stick from Predators forward Erik Haula that went uncalled—a decision Jared Bednar clearly did not endorse. The Avalanche head coach made his displeasure evident, his reaction echoing the frustration felt throughout the arena. 

The explanation, according to officials, was that Erik Haula was deemed to be following through on a shot, which by rule negated a high-sticking penalty. Bednar, however, took issue not only with the interpretation but with the inconsistency in how the situation was handled. In the earlier incident involving Manson, a penalty was assessed and then reviewed before being overturned. In Nichushkin’s case, no penalty was called and no review was conducted at all. 

Compounding the frustration was the fact that Haula never made contact with the puck. By Bednar’s reasoning, a player cannot be “following through” on a shot that never occurred—a distinction he felt should have warranted at least a review, if not a penalty. 

“(On Nichushkin’s shot), they thought it was a follow-through,” Bednar told The Hockey News. “He never really shot the puck in my opinion. That’s what I was having my discussion with them on. 

“I would have just liked to have seen them (call the penalty). He was clearly bleeding. Just call it and then review it just like they did on the first one. I’m not sure why they didn’t; I didn’t have enough time to dig into all that. But it was a shooting motion, he just never shot the puck, so to me it should be a high-stick.” 

Nathan MacKinnon, who finished the night with a goal and an assist, shared Bednar’s sentiment. 

“I thought (Haula) was kinda falling and just missed the puck completely,” he stated. “It could have been very bad for Val. It could have been a four-minute (penalty) and then just nothing, so I don’t know. I don’t know the rule.” 

Either way, the outcome remained unchanged as the Avalanche secured the win to close out their short two-game homestand. Nichushkin, however, had the final laugh—blood still visible on his face, he buried an empty-net goal that effectively sealed the game, even as the Predators managed a late goal.

Next Game 

The Avalanche (23-2-7) head to Seattle to take on the Kraken (12-11-6), with puck drop set for Tuesday night. Coverage begins at 8 p.m. local time. 

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