Darryl Sutter, the head coach of the Calgary Flames, famously prophesied that a first-round series against the Colorado Avalanche would be “a waste of eight days” before the team even made the playoffs.
He was completely wrong. The Colorado Avalanche swept the Nashville Predators in only seven days.
Colorado won 5-3 on the road in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs on Monday night, eliminating the conference’s final wild-card team. The Avalanche triumphed with backup goaltender Pavel Francouz subbing in for starter Darcy Kuemper, who is recovering from an eye injury sustained in Game 3.
They also triumphed with their trademark style of offensive dominance, which allowed them to rally in the final period.
Filip Forsberg scored just 3:58 into the third period to give the Predators a 3-2 lead.
“This was definitely our most difficult game,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “I made a couple mistakes that they took advantage of.”
But, as they had done throughout the series, the Avalanche eventually overwhelmed them. At 8:55, Devon Toews tied the game with his third goal of the playoffs. Makar set up Valeri Nichushkin for a one-timer just 3:06 later, giving Colorado the lead. MacKinnon’s sixth postseason goal, into an empty net, sealed the deal.
