Game Recap: Mackenzie Blackwood makes 38 stops as Colorado Avalanche defeats Nashville Predators 5-2

Game Recap: Mackenzie Blackwood makes 38 stops as Colorado Avalanche defeats Nashville Predators 5-2

Incredible!

Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 38 shots in his Colorado Avalanche debut and the Avalanche held off a late rally by the Nashville Predators to win 5-2 on Saturday night.

Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and an assist. With another solid performance, Mac passed Michel Goulet (946) and moved into third place on Colorado’s all-time points list. That’s 13 goals and 50 points for MacKinnon so far this season. Artturi Lehkonen also scored two goals for the Avalanche.

Steven Stamkos and Luke Evangelista scored for the Predators and Juuse Saros had 29 saves.

Blackwood, acquired from the San Jose Sharks on Monday, appeared to be on his way to a win. He stopped the first 37 shots he faced until Stamkos broke through with 6:57 left in regulation. Evangelista scored the second goal on a delayed penalty with 4:32 left before MacKinnon and Lehkonen capped it off with two empty-net goals.

Nashville has a stacked lineup with plenty of big names, but their struggles continued Saturday. Additionally, former Norris Trophy winner Roman Josi was sidelined for the second consecutive game with a lower-body injury.

The Avalanche struggled to get their plays together in the first 20 minutes, but they came alive in the second period and never let up.

Second period

Ross Colton scored his 10th goal of the season at 11:32 of the second minute when Casey Mittelstadt broke free after being tied up on the boards and found his man for a nice one-timer to tie the game.

And that was the fuel the camel needed. After going on a mini-scoreless streak, MacKinnon has now scored in three straight games. He scored late in the second period to give Colorado a two-goal lead. Mikko Rantanen prevented defender Marc Del Gaizo from making a mistake and then saw MacKinnon sprint toward the net. And the reigning MVP was on target, shooting under the crossbar with nearly a minute left in the quarter.

Third period

Colorado continued to fire on all cylinders in the final period of the game. It’s unbelievable what can happen when the team has a competent goalkeeper. Just 3:30 into the third period, MacKinnon caused an upset when he carried the puck through the neutral zone and left it to Lehkonen, who skated in and fired a shot into the top right corner of the net to make it 3-0 . 0 game.

But the Predators made it a game late. Stamkos’ goal gave Blackwood the shutout, and Evangelista made it a 3-2 game when he crossed the ball and launched a backhand at 15:08. The goal was reviewed but upheld after Colton slid against the post and ripped the net from its holder.

But exactly three minutes later, MacKinnon scored into an empty net and Lehkonen scored with 50 seconds left to make the final score 5-2.

Takeaways

The offense was electric, but Blackwood was clearly the man of the hour. If Blackwood continues to play like this, Avs general manager Chris MacFarland will look like a genius. And honestly, he is exactly that and has a track record at it.

Fans should be excited about this win and where this team is headed, even if Nashville hasn’t exactly performed well this season.

Soon

The avalanche is heading to Canada! Colorado takes on the Vancouver Canucks on Monday, December 16th. The puck drops at 8:30 p.m. local time, so it’s late.

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