Avalanche 6, Predators 5
DENVER - Matt Duchene and Aaron Palushaj had a goal and two assists each, Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Nashville Predators 6-5 on Monday.
Shea Weber, Colin Wilson, Jonathon Blum and Sergei Kostitsyn had two points each for the Predators, who lost in regulation for the first time in four games.
The teams combined for seven goals in a wild second period, with the first one coming on a missed offsides.
Predator defensemen Kevin Klein and Scott Hannan appeared to ease up after the puck followed Duchene into the Nashville zone. Duchene, hearing no whistle for offsides, reached back for the puck and beat a surprised Steve Mason high to give Colorado a 3-1 lead.
The Predators tried to get back into the game, but the Avalanche (6-7-1) responded each time. Mike Fisher scored midway through the second, but Chuck Kobasew answered 50 seconds later. Twenty-nine seconds after Wilson scored on a breakaway, Stastny and Jamie McGinn scored 13 seconds apart to make it 6-3.
Pekke Rinne replaced Mason, who allowed six goals on 18 shots.
Blum cut it to 6-4 with an unassisted goal with 50 seconds left in the second. It stayed that way until Rinne went off for an extra skater with 2:03 left and Weber scored at 18:42.
Rinne stayed on the bench, but the Predators couldn't get the equalizer.
Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov had 32 saves, including 15 in the third period.
Palushaj and Tyson Barrie scored in the first period to give Colorado a 2-0 lead before Kostitsyn scored a power-play goal to make it 2-1 heading into the second.
The Predators (7-4-5) played most of the game without center Paul Gaustad. He left the game after playing two shifts with an upper body injury.
Notes: Duchene has scored a goal in four straight games. ... Predators center Colin Wilson has a point in four straight games. ... The power-play goal Colorado allowed in the first period was just the second in 29 chances at home. The Avalanche killed off the first 20 penalties at home before Anaheim scored one. ... Nashville forward Patric Hornqvist was activated from the injured list and played his first game since sustaining a knee sprain Jan. 26. He missed 10 games. ... Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson missed his third straight game with a head injury in the third period of a loss to the Phoenix Coyotes on Feb. 11. He is out indefinitely. ... Defenseman Shane O'Brien was scratched. Stefan Elliott, recalled from Lake Erie of the AHL on Sunday, was in the lineup.
