To wrap up a roller coaster west coast road trip, the Predators must improve their play against an Avs team that has haunted Smashville since May.
The Colorado Avalanche may not be the team the Nashville Predators want to face tonight when they must come out and execute exponentially better than they did against the Kraken, but it's the game they've got. The Predators face off against the Colorado Avalanche tonight at Ball Arena, and this may be the biggest test for the inconsistent Preds yet.
This isn't the same Colorado Avalanche team that swept the Predators in the first round of the playoffs last season. The Avs lost Andre Burakovsky and Nazem Kadri in free agency to the Kraken and Flames respectively. Right now the biggest changes to the Colorado roster are due to injuries.
The Avs' injury list includes captain Gabriel Landeskog who is out for several months after knee surgery and Valeri Nichushkin who Coach Jared Bednar yesterday announced had ankle surgery. Bowen Byram is listed as week to week, and Darren Helm is out with an undisclosed injury as well.
That isn't to say the Avs don't still have plenty of offensive firepower that will keep the Preds busy for sixty minutes. Mikko Rantanen had seven goals in his eleven games and Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar are dishing out the puck and collecting assists for the 6-4-1 Avs.
Jet lag may be the only thing that slows down Colorado tonight. The Avs return to their home ice after playing back to back games last weekend in Finland against Columbus in their Global Series games. The team traveled for two weeks - one week in the New York area for games against the Rangers, Devils, and Islanders before heading to Helsinki and Tampere, Finland for the Global Series events.
While Colorado's big players have been playing big, last season's standout stars for the Preds aren't all playing like they once did. Filip Forsberg had the Predators lone goal against the Kraken and has six points, including three goals in his last five games. Matt Duchene had the shootout winning goal in the comeback against the Canucks, but his play has been inconsistent on both ends of the ice this season. Roman Josi, who set a record for points in a single season for the franchise last season - only has two goals and five assists in thirteen games.
Tonight's game against the Avs would be a terrific opportunity for Forsberg, Duchene, and Josi to find their 2021-2022 form, and it will take quality performances like that up and down the line up to put together a win against the Avalanche at home.
Goaltending will also be a big story tonight especially for the Predators. Juuse Saros was pulled in the first period after a disastrous four goal start in Seattle, and all eyes will be on John Hynes to see who he gives the nod in net to tonight. The Avalanche acquired Alexandar Georgiev in the offseason, and the former Rangers goaltender has performed well in his eight starts, earning a 6-1-0-1 record and .925 save percentage. While backup Pavel Francouz struggled in his three starts, he is a solid backup the Avs could choose to start against the Preds tonight.
This game will come down to which team executes better, and unless Nashville can clean up their poor execution in passing, zone exits, and puck possession, the Avalanche could make this another tough three periods of hockey for the Predators.
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