Avalanche rally past Predators in Game 4, sweep West First Round series

NASHVILLE -- The Colorado Avalanche swept the Nashville Predators in the Western Conference First Round with a 5-3 win in Game 4 at Bridgestone Arena on Monday.

Valeri Nichushkin broke a tie at 12:02 of the third period for Colorado, the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. The Avalanche advance to play either the St. Louis Blues or Minnesota Wild in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The St. Louis-Minnesota series is tied 2-2.
"You enjoy it quickly," Colorado defenseman Cale Makar said. "This is just step one. You enjoy it for a little bit but then you move on. Obviously, we don't know who our opponent is yet, but it's going to be a familiar team.
"For us, it's already to that next step. We're where we want it to be, but we have to make sure that we can stay tight throughout this little break that we have."

Makar and Andre Burakovsky each had a goal and two assists, and Pavel Francouz made 28 saves for the Avalanche. Colorado outscored the Predators 21-9 in the series and trailed just once.
"I thought we had] really good focus throughout the series," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "Pretty good consistency. This was our toughest game for sure. We made a few mistakes that they capitalized on, but again good resilience from our team to stick with it. … We were able to grind out a win on the road in a tough building, good team, all-around positive experience for our guys."
Yakov Trenin scored twice, Colton Sissons had two assists and Connor Ingram made 33 saves for the Predators, the Western Conference's second wild card. Nashville was swept for the first time in its history.
"That's certainly disappointing," Predators coach John Hynes said. "That's for sure. You come in and you work for 82 games to be able to get in the playoffs. Unfortunately, this series didn't go the way we wanted it to go. The fact we weren't able to win a game is something that we all take personally, I'm sure."
Burakovsky gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 1:56 of the first period, scoring on Colorado's first shot on goal. His wrist shot went over the left shoulder of Ingram and through the back of the net. Play continued before the goal was confirmed by video review at the next stoppage.
Trenin tied it 1-1 at 18:59, scoring from the slot.
[RELATED: [Complete Avalanche vs. Predators series coverage]
Makar gave Colorado a 2-1 lead at 13:33 of the second period, scoring his third goal of the series. He scored an NHL-leading 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in the series, the most in NHL history by a defenseman through four games in a postseason.
"He might be the best player in the League right now," Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon said. "The way he dominates from the back end is amazing. All season, but this playoff season, he's taken another step with his leadership in the room, being more vocal. And obviously on the ice, he's so dominant. He might be one of the best [defensemen] to ever play by the end of his career at this rate."
Trenin made it 2-2 at 16:49 with his second goal of the game, third of the series. It came just after Francouz made tough saves on Filip Forsberg and Sissons.
Forsberg made it 3-2 at 3:58 of the third period, scoring his first goal of the series and giving the Predators their only lead of the series.
"It was a huge goal for us," Predators captain Roman Josi said. "Obviously they scored pretty quick right after ... We've got to find a way. We're up 3-2 in the third. We've got to find a way to bring it home."

Devon Toews tied it 3-3 at 8:55, beating Ingram from the base of the face-off circle.
Nichushkin's game-winning goal came on a wrist shot from the face-off circle, following a cross-ice pass from Makar.
MacKinnon made it 5-3 when he scored an empty-net power play goal with 56 seconds left. He scored a goal in each of the four games, the longest-goal scoring streak to start the playoffs in Avalanche history.
NOTES:The Avalanche became the first team to register first round, best-of-7 sweeps in consecutive years since the Detroit Red Wings swept the Anaheim Ducks in 1999 and the Los Angeles Kings in 2000. Colorado swept the St. Louis Blues in the first round in 2021. … Since the franchise relocated to Denver from Quebec in 1995, the Avalanche are 6-0 in games when leading 3-0 in a best-of-7 series … Predators forward Nick Cousins replaced Mathieu Olivier and had three hits in 15:38.