- Ryan O’Reilly had two goals and two assists in Nashville’s 6-2 win over Colorado
- Steven Stamkos scored twice, including a goal upheld after Cale Makar swiped at it on the line
- Read below for how the Predators went 4-for-7 on the power play
Ryan O’Reilly had a night in Nashville.
The Predators center finished with two goals and two assists in a 6-2 win over the Avalanche on Sunday at Bridgestone Arena. Both of his goals came on the power play, and Nashville went 4-for-7 with the man advantage.
Steven Stamkos added two goals and an assist, Filip Forsberg had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi picked up three assists. Justus Annunen made 19 saves for the Predators, who improved to 4-3-4.
Stamkos’ first goal nearly didn’t count. His wrist shot bounced off Scott Wedgewood and Cale Makar swatted at the puck on the goal line, missing on his first try. Play continued until officials took a look, and video review showed the puck had fully crossed the line for a 2-0 Nashville lead at 10:48 of the first period.
Take a look at another angle of the bouncing shot:
Stamkos talked about the review after the game.
“I wasn’t confident when I skated back to the bench, and they were all telling me it didn’t go in,” Stamkos said. “I had already accepted the fact that it was no goal. When they started showing it on the jumbotron, I was like, ‘Wait a minute.’”
O’Reilly made it 3-0 at 6:38 of the second with a backhand over Wedgewood after corralling a Josi pass with his skate. Former Avalanche forwards Ross Colton and Jack Drury, both playing their first game against their old team, connected late in the period to push the lead to 4-0. Colton found Drury alone on the blocker side.
Drury said he was happy for his linemate.
“He’s played well the last couple of games,” Drury said of Colton. “We came really close in Pittsburgh to connecting on one there at the end of the period Saturday, but he made a great play and was fired up. It was a cool moment to share with him.”
O’Reilly scored again on the power play at 17:29, and Nashville led 5-0 before the second period ended. Stamkos finished things off in the third with a 5-on-3 goal after O’Reilly sent a backhanded pass from behind the net.
Predators coach Andrew Brunette was asked about the performance of his top players.
“Your best players win you the most games, and they won us that game tonight,” Brunette said. “We had 20 drivers tonight. Every time it was their turn to grab the wheel, they floored it.”
Colorado (6-5-1) has lost three of its last four. Artturi Lehkonen extended his point streak to seven games with a goal late in the second, and Devon Toews scored in the third. A few days earlier, the Avalanche got four points from Nathan MacKinnon in a 6-3 win over Tampa Bay. Nothing like that showed up in Nashville.
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said his team was outworked.
“We should have been the team with more energy,” Bednar said. “It looked like it was the exact opposite.” He added that Colorado stayed in the penalty box too much after talking about it before the game.
