The Colorado Avalanche hosted the Nashville Predators in the third meeting of the 2025-26 season. Heading into the game, the season series was split 1-1, with the most recent game going in favor of the Predators in a 4-3 shootout win on Dec. 9. After the final horn sounded on Saturday night, the Avalanche took a 2-1 season series lead with a 4-2 win over the Predators.
Game Recap
It only took 1:26 for the Avalanche to take a 1-0 lead, coming from the NHL’s leading goal scorer, Nathan MacKinnon. MacKinnon’s 26th of the season came after receiving a pass from Brent Burns in the neutral zone as he was skating to the opposing zone. After skating in the middle of three defensemen, MacKinnon ripped a snap shot that went past Justus Annunen, giving the Avalanche an early lead.
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Over 10 minutes later, Jack Drury doubled the Avalanche lead with his fifth of the season. After taking a pass from Cale Makar in the Predators’ zone, he shot the puck towards the net, which got deflected off an opposing player. It went into the net, and the goal gave the Avalanche a 2-0 lead. The Predators did score a goal in the first period as Jonathan Marchessault, on the power play, was able to get between a few Avalanche players between the faceoff circles. Ryan O’Reilly was able to get the puck to Marchessault, who ended up putting it past Scott Wedgewood.
The second period only saw one goal, which came from the Avalanche, after Victor Olofsson scored his seventh of the season. After the puck went off a Predators player, due to a blocked shot, Olofsson was able to get to the loose puck between the circles. He was able to get the shot off and past Annunen, giving the Avalanche a two-goal lead once again. The goal also gave Samuel Girard a multi-point game after picking up two assists.
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The Avalanche pushed their lead to three, following a Valeri Nichushkin empty net goal with under four minutes left in the game. MacKinnon picked up the lone assist to give himself a multi-point night as well. Former Avalanche player Tyson Jost scored for the Predators to make it a 4-2 game; however, by then, the game was out of reach.
The Avalanche moved to 23-2-7 on the season, after claiming their 11th straight home win on Saturday night. Their next game is on Tuesday, Dec. 16, against the Seattle Kraken. Regarding the Predators, they fall to 12-15-4 on the season. Their next game is on Monday, Dec. 15, against the St. Louis Blues.
