The Nashville Predators continued their dominance over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night, defeating their Central Division rivals, 5-2. It was their eighth win in a row over the Avs.
Craig Smith, Colton Sissons, Anthony Bitetto, Mattias Ekholm and Viktor Arvidsson all scored for Nashville as they improved to 11-6-2 on the young season, good for third place in the Central.
Pekka Rinne was spectacular, making 29 saves and, frankly, deserving of a better fate than the two goals allowed. His stellar play held Colorado at bay despite four power plays in the first period alone — including a five-minute major — as he turned aside all 10 shots he faced that period.
“You definitely don’t want to roll the dice playing the first period with 11 penalty minutes,” Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “It was a really gutsy period. Our penalty killers did an amazing job tonight. They were a difference maker in the first period. It allowed us to stay in that game.”
The only two pucks that got by Rinne came in garbage time when the Preds seemed to take their foot off the gas and hit cruise control.
“We got a little sloppy at the end with about five minutes left,” Bitetto said. “We can’t have that. If we’re going to be a championship team, we can’t have those.”
You can watch all the highlights below.
