Predators were 'a little paralyzed' in Game 1 loss to Avalanche

DENVER --The Colorado Avalanche are good. They're so good that, back on March 15, Calgary Flames coach Darryl Sutter said he wouldn't want to be the wild-card team playing them in the first round because it would be "a waste of eight days."

But that's not the only reason the Avalanche blew out the Nashville Predators 7-2 in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round at Ball Arena on Tuesday, chasing goalie David Rittich 15:04 into the first period after building a 5-0 lead then cruising to the finish.
The Predators didn't have No. 1 goalie Juuse Saros, who will miss the first two games of the series with a lower-body injury, and, well, there's no sugarcoating it.
"I mean, that's as bad as we can play right there," Predators forward Matt Duchene said.
If the Predators don't fix it quick, this won't even be a waste of eight days. It'll be a waste of seven. Game 2 is at Ball Arena on Thursday (9:30 p.m. ET; TNT, SN360, SNE, TVAS, ALT, BSSO). Games 3 and 4 are in Nashville on Saturday and Monday.
"We have a lot more pride than what we showed tonight, and yeah, I mean, we've always bounced back this year," Duchene said. "We're going to need to do that Thursday. That's a team over there that wants to win the Stanley Cup and believes they can. We have to stand in there a lot better."
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The Predators would have been underdogs in the best of circumstances. They are the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. The Avalanche are the top seed in the West after setting Colorado/Quebec Nordiques records for wins (56) and points (119).
Without Saros, the Predators are heavy underdogs. There is a reason Saros started 67 games this season, more than any other goalie in the NHL.
After practice Monday, coach John Hynes didn't commit to a goalie for Game 1. His choices were Rittich, who went 6-3-4 with a 3.57 goals-against average and .886 save percentage in 17 games this season, or rookie Connor Ingram, who went 1-2-0 with a 3.71 GAA and .879 save percentage in three games.
When Hynes named Rittich the starter after the morning skate Tuesday, he said the Predators would "give him the opportunity here," and "go from there," while also saying they trusted him and believed in him.
Rittich entered the game with 17 minutes of NHL playoff experience, allowing three goals on nine shots for the Flames in a 7-3 loss to the Dallas Stars in Game 6 of the 2020 Western Conference First Round.
The Predators needed to give Rittich a chance by letting him settle into the action against the Avalanche, who were fourth in goals (308) and seventh on the power play (24.0 percent) during the regular season.
They didn't do that.
Even though Hynes ended the morning skate by calling the team together at center ice and emphasizing the need to avoid stick penalties, forward Michael McCarron, in his second NHL playoff game, took a high-sticking penalty after the whistle 2:08 into the first period.
Nathan MacKinnon cashed in on the power play 12 seconds later, and Devon Toews scored 22 seconds after that. Just like that, the Avalanche scored two goals on three shots on Rittich.
"We have to understand in those situations, particularly in the playoffs, on the road, if we have more discipline in that situation, then that start probably isn't the way the start was," Hynes said.

Andrew Cogliano made it 3-0 with a shorthanded goal off his own rebound after Predators defenseman Mattias Ekholm dropped a pass to no one in the defensive zone. Cale Makar then flew down the left wing, cut to the net and flicked the puck in off the mask of Rittich at 12:15. When Artturi Lehkonen scored at 15:04, Rittich had allowed five goals on 13 shots and was replaced by Ingram.
"I think we were a little nervous, a little tight, and you can't be against that team, because that team comes at you fast, and you've got to think fast and diffuse them when they're playing at their best," Duchene said.
This summed up Nashville's night: The Predators took a penalty for too many men at 14:04 of the second, giving the Avalanche a two-man advantage, and defenseman Mark Borowiecki ended up kicking the puck into his own net to make it 6-0.
"We've got to be assertive," said Duchene, who scored both Nashville goals. "We can't sit back and let them come at us like that and just hope to get a good save or a big save when we need it. We just gave up way too much. We were a little paralyzed out there, standing still."
Can they get moving, or will Sutter be right? Will this be a waste?
"Hey, we lost the game," Hynes said. "We lost big. But there's a Game 2 coming next, and we've got to be better."