The Nashville Predators brought their hot streak to the Pepsi Center and ran through the shorthanded Colorado Avalanche, winning their ninth goal in the last 11 games and placing themselves in serious contention in the Central Division.
Colorado was playing with makeshift lines following the news that Tomas Fleischmann will miss the remainder of the season and the demotion of T.J. Galiardi to Lake Erie. Their offense struggled to get any solid chances on Predators goalie Pekka Rinne, with one goal stripped away at the end of the second period.
With the Avalanche down 2-0, recent callup Ryan Stoa appeared to backhand a rebound past Rinne. Replays showed that the puck crossed the goal line before bouncing off the skate of Rinne and out of the crease. The official determined that the review was inconclusive and waived off the score.
Nashville answered back with three straight goals in the third period to put the game out of reach. Matt Duchene scored a goal in the final two minutes to put Colorado on the scoreboard, but it was far too little, too late.
The Avalanche are still winless on the season when they fail to score three or more goals.
Colorado plays the Boston Bruins next at Pepsi Center on Saturday afternoon.