Mackenzie Blackwood has insisted in recent weeks that all he needed was steady minutes and a consistent rhythm to rediscover his form. On Saturday night in Nashville, he proved it, delivering a commanding performance in Colorado’s 3–0 shutout of the Predators at Bridgestone Arena. Blackwood made 35 saves in a heroic performance, while Brent Burns, Jack Drury, and Nathan MacKinnon scored for the Avalanche, who extended their winning streak to eight games to improve their NHL-best 15-1-5 record. Mackenzie Blackwood makes a great save on Luke Evangelista. It wasn't a perfect game. The Predators outshot the Avalanche 35-26 and Colorado struggled with puck control at points in the game, but Blackwood stood tall and made incredible saves throughout the game. Nashville's Juuse Saros made one mistake 15 seconds into the game and that decided the game. He stopped 23 of 24 shots in an otherwise great performance. FIRST PERIOD The Avalanche needed only 15 seconds to seize a 1–0 lead. Burns gathered a loose puck at the point and rifled a shot through traffic, a blast Saros never picked up. Just like that, Colorado was in front. But from that moment on, the first period belonged almost entirely to Nashville. Despite striking first, the Avs were on their heels for long stretches as the Predators dictated the tempo, outshooting Colorado 7–2 at one stage. Still, Colorado found ways to manufacture key moments. Burns delivered again later in the frame, laying out for a sliding block on a Steven Stamkos chance to disrupt what looked like a dangerous rush. Luke Evangelista nearly broke through with nine minutes left, snapping a shot off the short-side post as Colorado continued to struggle exiting its own zone. Moments later, with under six minutes remaining, the Avalanche were staring down a delayed penalty when Nashville kept possession long enough for Roman Josi to hammer a one-timer off the rush. Blackwood, however, delivered a stellar save to preserve the lead—before Martin Nečas was sent off for holding. After a successful kill, Blackwood produced an even more dazzling moment, robbing Filip Forsberg from point-blank range with a spectacular glove save that left the crowd gasping. SECOND PERIOD The middle frame opened with a scare, as a turnover at the blue line gifted Forsberg another prime opportunity. But Blackwood—now fully settled in—stonewalled him yet again. Devon Toews was whistled for tripping shortly after, though replays showed Evangelista actually stepping on Toews’ stick. Nevertheless, Nashville returned to the power play. Colorado’s penalty killers handled their business, and soon after the Avs earned their own man advantage when Forsberg slashed Cale Makar’s stick clean out of his hands. It was the first look at the reconfigured top power-play unit featuring Gabe Landeskog in place of Victor Olofsson. They generated a few sequences, but nothing found the net. As the period progressed, the Avs flipped the script. Unlike the opening 20 minutes, Colorado controlled possession and pace, while Blackwood continued authoring his best performance of the season. Olofsson nearly doubled the lead with under four minutes remaining. He burst onto a loose puck in Nashville’s zone and got a shot off despite being hacked on the hands by Spencer Stastney, but no penalty was called. The period ended scoreless, and after 40 minutes, the Avalanche still held a 1–0 edge behind Blackwood’s brilliance. THIRD PERIOD Nashville earned another power play less than four minutes into the third when Toews was penalized for interference after losing his stick and running over Jonathan Marchessault to prevent him from making a run at Blackwood. Colorado’s penalty killers, perfect to that point, remained flawless once more. The Predators then handed the Avs another opportunity when Michael McCarron took an interference penalty on Drury, but Colorado’s power play came up empty again. At that stage, the two teams were a combined 0-for-5 with the man advantage. Midway through the frame, the Avalanche generated multiple grade-A looks, but Saros kept them alive. He denied Drury on a net-front jam attempt and then robbed Brock Nelson with a sharp glove save on a backhander. Blackwood promptly delivered the save of the night at the other end, kicking out his pad to stone Erik Haula. Colorado surged back with MacKinnon slicing through the neutral zone, though his attempted feed to Landeskog didn’t connect. With fewer than two minutes left, Nashville pulled Saros for the extra skater. MacKinnon promptly found the empty net to extend the lead to 2–0, and Drury followed with a second empty-netter to cement a 3–0 victory. Mackenzie Blackwood, sensational from start to finish, earned the shutout. NEXT GAME The Avalanche have no time to rest as they have another game tomorrow against Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks. The Hawks, losers of their last two games, come into the game with a 10-7-4 record. Coverage from United Center kicks off at 5 p.m. Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/aa3ed9ce-3243-4b9f-982c-a6ed370d7a1c.jpeg] For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
