First Round Series Preview: Avalanche vs. Predators

Playoff hockey is back.
The Colorado Avalanche officially embark on the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Tuesday, May 3 as they will go head-to-head against fellow Central Division foe the Nashville Predators.
After clinching the top seed in the Western Conference the Avalanche have the advantage of home ice. Game 1 between Colorado and Nashville will begin on Tuesday night at Ball Arena with a 7:30 p.m. MT puck drop.
Here's a comprehensive look at the First-Round matchup between the Avs and Preds:

LOOKING BACK AT THE REGULAR SEASON SERIES:

The Avalanche posted a 1-1-2 record in their four-game regular season series against the Predators.
In the season series, Cale Makar paced the Avalanche in scoring with seven points (2G, 5A), while Mikko Rantanen recorded four goals and six points through the four games and Nazem Kadri also put up six points on as many helpers. For the Predators, Roman Josi led his squad with six points (2G, 4A), while the team's top line of Filip Forsberg, Mikael Granlund and Matt Duchene - who was Colorado's 2009 third overall pick and spent nine seasons with the club - combined for 13 points (6G, 7A).

Of Colorado's netminders, Darcy Kuemper has played in two of the meetings this season and has posted a 0-0-2 record, while Pavel Francouz suffered a loss and Jonas Johansson secured the sole win.
During the first meeting back on Nov. 27, 2021 Colorado executed a dominant 6-2 win over Nashville with a hat trick and four-point outing from Rantanen and a 26-save performance from Johansson. The Avs also dominated the special teams battle and were 2-for-4 on the power play - both scored by Rantanen - and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
The Avs dropped a 5-2 result to the Preds on Dec. 16, 2021 and only dressed 16 skaters. Francouz made an emergency last minute start in net and and the team was without defensemen Devon Toews and Makar goaltender Kuemper and forwards J.T. Compher and Andre Burakovsky, who were all placed in COVID-19 protocols. Conversely, the Predators were without seven players and their five-man coaching staff in that game as well due to COVID-19 protocols. Colorado was 1-for-4 on the power play and 3-for-5 on the penalty kill in that contest.
The final two meetings of the regular season required extra time and resulted with the Predators collecting the second point in both. On Jan. 11, despite being down 4-3, the Avalanche forced overtime with a late strike from Makar, but fell short as Duchene scored the overtime winner on the power play. Colorado was 1-for-3 on the power play and 3-for-5 on the penalty kill.
The final and most recent meeting took place just five days prior to Game 1 as Nashville edged Colorado 5-4 in a shootout after forcing overtime with a late third-period goal from Josi. The Avs were 1-for-6 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill.

THE LAST POSTSEASON MEETING:

Colorado and Nashville have only ever met in the Stanley Cup Playoffs once before, which was back in 2018, where the roles were reversed in the First-Round matchup as Nashville was top seeded and Colorado held the second Wild Card spot. The Preds advanced to the Second Round after the series went six games.

SCOUTING THE PREDS:

Nashville finished the regular season with a 45-30-7 record and 97 points to claim the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. They finished the regular season averaging the 12th most goals for per game in the league at 3.20 (Colorado averaged the fourth-highest at 3.76), boasted the sixth-ranked power play at 24.4% and ranked 10th in the league in the faceoff circle with a FOW% of 51.2%.
AVALANCHE VS PREDATORS
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Colorado Avalanche 2021-22 Regular Season By the Numbers
First Round Schedule of Avalanche vs. Predators
Avs Regular Season in Photos
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The Preds present a deep four line setup with a balance of top-end talent - mostly concentrated on their top line - with hard-hitting weight spread throughout their bottom-six. In the regular season, Nashville threw the most hits of any team in the league with a grand total of 2,470 - rookie winger Tanner Jeannot ranked second in the league in hits with 318 thrown in the regular season - and placed 11th for blocked shots with 1,160.
This marked Nashville's eighth-straight berth to the postseason. The team is in its third season under Head Coach John Hynes' tutelage.
Nashville's scoring featured a career-best 96-point (23G, 73A) season from captain Roman Josi. Behind Josi, the team's top line were second, third and fourth in scoring. Duchene completed a career-high campaign of 86 points (43G, 43A), Forsberg totaled 84 points (42G, 42A) and Granlund posted 64 points (11G, 43A).
"They're a hard-working line," Bednar said of the Forsberg-Granlund-Duchene line. "All three guys are dynamic offensive guys, they're able to hang onto the puck, they can shoot as well as pass. All of them are playing with a ton of confidence, there's a chemistry there. It's been a really good line for them.

INJURY STATUS:

Per Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar, the team is healthy heading into the postseason as defenseman Ryan Murray is the only player who has yet to be cleared. Avs captain Gabriel Landeskog has been sidelined since March 14 after undergoing knee surgery, but it's expected to be able to return for Game 1.
Nashville could be without goaltender Juuse Saros, as his status is uncertain. Saros suffered a lower-body injury in Nashville's 5-4 OT loss to Calgary on April 26 and did not play the final two games of the regular season, including against the Avs on April 28.
Preds defenseman Jeremy Lauzon, who was listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury, joined his team for morning skate on April 28, but did not play against Colorado or in Nashville's final game of the season against Arizona on April 29.

COLORADO'S LETHAL OFFENSE:

The Avalanche's high-octane offense will be a challenge to defend against given its dispersed and varied scoring among forwards as well as defensemen.
During the regular season, as the team produced the second-most goals in the NHL with 307, recorded nine different occasions where seven or more goals were scored and benefitted from having eight different players put up 50 or more points - Rantanen (92), Nathan MacKinnon (88), Nazem Kadri (87), Makar (86), Andre Burakovsky (61), Gabriel Landeskog (59), Devon Toews (57) and Valeri Nichushkin (52) - and four players finish the regular-season campaign with 80-plus points - Rantanen (92), MacKinnon (88), Kadri (87) and Makar (86).

GOALTENDING:

Avalanche:
Kuemper finished his career-high season with 37 wins, which was tied for fourth-best in the league with Jacob Markstrom of the Calgary Flames. Kuemper also ranked fifth in save percentage (.921) among goalies who played at least 20 games and he matched a previous career-best of five shutouts. In addition to his 0-0-2 against Nashville, Kuemper recorded a 4.23 goals-against average and .870 save percentage.
After not playing in an NHL game since March 11, 2020 Francouz made 18 starts this season and earned 15 wins and two shutouts. The 31-year-old Czech netminder owned a 2.55 GAA and a 9.16 SV% in the regular season.
Predators:
Through 67 starts, Saros finished the regular season with a 38-25-3 record, a 2.64 GAA, a .918 SV% and four shutouts.
David Rittich, who was between the pipes in the most recent meeting between the Avalanche and Predators and made 42 saves, went 6-3-4 through 12 starts and picked up a 3.57 GAA and an .886 save percentage, including a 1-1-0 record, a 4.80 GAA and .877 save percentage against Colorado.

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THE NORRIS CANDIDATES: MAKAR VS. JOSI

The conversation around the Norris Memorial Trophy, which is annually awarded to the league's top defenseman as voted by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, has consistently featured Makar and Josi, as both blueliners have executed not just career-high campaigns, but historic seasons as both were catalysts for their teams offense, as well as stabilizers on their respective bluelines.
Josi, who is 31-years-old, led all defensemen in points with 96, while Makar, who is just 23-years-old, finished the season in second with 86. Makar held the edge in goals among NHL defensemen with his 28, but Josi was placed second with 23.
Makar is just one of five defensemen in the last 30 years to score 28 goals in a season, joining Brent Burns (29 in 2016-17), Mike Green (31 in 2008-09), Al MacInnis (28 in 1993-94) and Kevin Hatcher (34 in 1992-93. Throughout the entirety of his green three-year NHL career, Makar has amassed 180 points (48G, 132A) in 178 games, the most ever by an NHL defenseman through 178 contests. He is one of four blueliners in history to average a point-per-game in their career (min 100 GP), joining some hefty company in Bobby Orr (1.39), Harry Cameron (1.10), Paul Coffey (1.09).
"Personally, I watch a lot of him throughout the year," Makar said of Josi. "He shows up in so many different areas of the ice where you wouldn't expect him to be. At the same time, he's committed on both ends. He's an outstanding player and definitely the drive for their team. He's a guy that you definitely have to stay on top of and that you don't give him those extra looks that he gets sometimes."
Josi, who won the Norris back in 2020, became just the eighth blueliner in NHL history to record at least 96 points in a season and the first since Phil Housley did so in 1992-93. Among all skaters in the NHL, Josi was tied for 11th in points, the highest that a defenseman has finished in that category since Brent Burns did so in 2016-17 (ninth).

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POTENTIAL X-FACTORS:

Colorado winger Valeri Nichushkin:
Colorado's roster features a variety of household scoring names from Nathan MacKinnon to Mikko Rantanen to Cale Makar to Gabriel Landeskog and so on, but this season the Avalanche benefitted from the emergence - and dominance - of Valeri Nichushkin.
The 27-year-old left shot diminished his previous career-high marks as he recorded a 52-point (25G, 27A) season through 62 games. Bednar and his staff utilized Nichushkin in virtually all situations as they were able to deploy the 6-foot-4, 210-pound winger on both special teams units, on offensive lines alongside MacKinnon or in a more checking-role as well.
The Russian also established a career-high seven-game point streak from April 9-22 as he totaled 10 points (5G, 5A) in that stretch.
"He's a competitive guy," Bednar said of Nichushkin. "Every time he touches the ice, practice, it doesn't matter what you're doing, he's competitive. He carries that over into the game. There's all kinds of leaders that you have in your room and one thing he does.*