Blackwood’s 35-Save Shutout Leads Avalanche to 3-0 Victory Over Predators

The Colorado Avalanche carried a seven-game winning streak into their Saturday night (Nov. 22) matchup against the Nashville Predators. They’re also on an 11-game point streak, as they sit atop the NHL with 33 points. The Predators were 6-10-4 entering the game and are coming back from a split two-game set in Sweden against the Pittsburgh Penguins. They’re 2-6-2 in their last 10 games as they look to turn the season around. After the final horn, the Avalanche shut out the Predators 3-0.

Game Recap

Brent Burns got the Avalanche out front early, 15 seconds into the game. After a board battle on the end wall, the puck was rimmed out to Burns, who was at the top of the right circle. He snapped a quick wrist shot, which caught Juuse Saros by surprise and put the Avalanche up 1-0 early in the first period. After that, the period was all Predators.

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Mackenzie Blackwood withstood a slew of shots from the Predators after seeing the Avalanche go up 1-0. It reached a point where the Predators were outshooting the Avalanche 11-2 after 12 minutes in the first period. After a penalty expired on a Martin Necas holding call, Blackwood robbed Filip Forsberg with a huge glove save from point-blank range to keep the game 1-0. After 20 minutes, shots were 16-7 Nashville, but Colorado was up 1-0.

The second period did not see any goals, but both the Predators and Avalanche had chances. Both teams had a power-play opportunity to score, but the penalty kills did their job to prevent the special teams battle from being lost. Blackwood and Saros were trading big save after big save to keep the game close. Shots were 11-10 in favor of the Predators in the second period. Overall, shots were 27-16 for Nashville after 40 minutes.

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The third period saw a pair of goals, both coming from the Avalanche. It was their best period of the game, outshooting the Predators 10-8. The first goal came from Nathan MacKinnon with an empty net marker, giving him 17 on the season. The second goal of the period came from Jack Drury to ice the game, making it 3-0. It was his fourth goal of the season. Blackwood claimed the shutout victory after saving all 35 shots he faced from the Predators.

The Avalanche are now on an eight-game winning streak, pushing their point streak to 12 games. They’ve also scored points in 20 of 21 games into the season. They head to Chicago on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 23) to take on the Blackhawks to finish up the weekend back-to-back. The Predators have now lost two games in a row. They’re 6-11-4 on the season, and will take on the Florida Panthers on Monday, Nov. 24.