The Nashville Predators were unable to build on Thursday’s win in Dallas, losing 5-2 to the Colorado Avalanche in Denver on Saturday and going 8-17-6 this season.

The Predators gave Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood 39 shots, but like so many other goalies against Nashville this season, he turned away most of them with ease.

Two goals from Steven Stamkos and Luke Evangelista were too little, too late, and now the Predators return home with just one win in their last 10 games.

As is often the case in hockey, this defeat was due to two small plays that had a big impact.

Marc Del Gaizo’s defensive error gives Colorado an easy goal

After the Avalanche took a 1-0 lead with a goal from Ross Colton, the Predators went for the equalizer. And there was good reason to believe that might be the case – up until that point, the Predators were the better of the two teams, taking more shots and forcing Blackwood into some tough saves.

But with just over a minute left in the second period, Predators defenseman Marc Del Gaizo made a crucial mistake.

Because he had the puck on the left side of defense, he had a chance to clear the puck despite pressure from Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen. But he hesitated a second too long and allowed Rantanen to knock the puck loose.

Rantanen pounced and sent a pass to MacKinnon, who cut to Juuse Saros for an easy break score.

That made the score 2-0 Avalanche, reversing the momentum of the game and forcing the Predators to fight uphill for the rest of the game.

Juuse Saros pulled away at the last moment at an inopportune moment

Facing a three-goal deficit, goals from Stamkos and Evangelista gave Nashville life. With two minutes left, the Predators appeared poised to tie the game and stun the Ball Arena crowd.

As expected, the Predators brought in Saros as an additional attacker, but the timing of the move was questionable.

Typically, teams pull their goalie after a faceoff in the neutral zone or offensive zone and only after they have gained possession of the puck. But the Predators pulled Saros after a defensive draw and without clear control of the puck.

After the draw, Saros began to skate as defenseman Brady Skjei threw the puck to the middle of the ice. Ryan O’Reilly made it and fed Stamkos on a zone entry, but a quick turnover allowed defenseman Cale Makar to sneak out with the puck. That led to an easy no-win result for MacKinnon.

Pulling the goalkeeper out is not a bad strategy, but pulling him out without clear possession of the ball is unwise. This mistake prevented the Predators from achieving late-game heroics.

Nashville returns home to take on the New York Rangers on Tuesday (7 p.m. CT, FanDuel Sports Network).

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Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at [email protected]. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our exclusive Predators Instagram page @tennessean_preds.

This article originally appeared on the Nashville Tennessean: Two pivotal moments that led to the Predators’ 5-2 loss to the Avalanche