Marchessault breaks tie in 3rd period to lift Predators past Avalanche

NASHVILLE -- Jonathan Marchessault broke a tie in the third period to help the Nashville Predators defeat the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday.

Justin Barron also scored, and Juuse Saros made 31 saves for the Predators (20-28-7), who have won two in a row after a six-game losing streak. Marchessault has seven points (three goals, four assists) during a four-game point streak.

“[Saros] played great for us, and guys had some big blocks toward the end,” Predators defenseman Luke Schenn said. “We’re trying to commit to playing the right way. Obviously we understand what the standings are but we have a lot of pride in this room. We just want to continue to build and play for one another and just give an honest effort.”

Sam Malinski scored for the Avalanche (33-23-2), who had won four of their previous five. Scott Wedgewood made 15 saves.

“If I take the result out of it, then I’m actually like really happy with the way that we played,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “I thought that was a good continuation of the practice days that we had. Liked our energy, liked our skating, I felt like we made a lot of plays coming out of our zone. You know, we had a tough time scoring tonight, and we checked hard. We limited the chances against.”

Marchessault gave the Predators a 2-1 lead at 9:11 of the third period with a tap in at the left post after Schenn’s slap shot caromed back off the end boards.

“In all honesty, I was going for a shot on goal,” Schenn said. “It was a bit of a roller. It feels like breaks and bounces have been tough to come by this year. I’ll take that, and luckily [Marchessault] has quick hands in front to put her home.”

Malinski gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 1:15 of the second period. He took a drop pass from Jonathan Drouin on a 3-on-2 rush and scored with a one-timer from above the right circle.

“Credit to [Saros], he played well,” Avalanche forward Ross Colton said. “We’ve got to do a better job of getting maybe some bodies in front, take away his eyes. If he’s just kicking them out with nobody in front of them, obviously it’s going to be an easy night for him. Again, we did a good job of creating a good amount of chances but just got to bear down and take the eyes away and keep working I guess.”

Barron scored for the Predators to tie it 1-1 just 30 seconds later with a slap shot through traffic from the high slot.

“I think with the way we play and the skilled forward group we have, our [defense corps] kind of has some freedom to play in the offensive zone and buzz around a little bit,” Barron said. “I think our forwards have done a good job of getting pucks up to us [defensemen] and getting to the front of the net like they did tonight. Just a great screen from all those guys.”