Forsberg, Predators rally past Avalanche

DENVER -- Filip Forsberg scored 1:07 into overtime to give the Nashville Predators a 4-3 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center on Sunday.
Forsberg skated down the right wing and beat Semyon Varlamov from a sharp angle.

"I just shoot it along the ice and it went in," Forsberg said. "We've proven to ourselves that we can come back. Getting four out of four wins on the road is ridiculous right now, but at the same time, we can't get too high. We have to keep grinding and winning the games."
Nashville tied its record with its eighth straight win and extended its winning streak against Colorado to nine games.
The Predators last won eight in a row from Oct. 5-25, 2005.
WATCH: [All Predators vs. Avalanche highlights]
Kyle Turris, Ryan Ellis and Austin Watson scored, and Pekka Rinne made 22 saves for the Predators (42-14-9), who lead the Vegas Golden Knights by four points for first place in the Western Conference and the Winnipeg Jets by six for first in the Central Division.

Mikko Rantanen, Matt Nieto and Nikita Zadorov scored, and Varlamov made 27 saves for the Avalanche (35-24-6), who trail the Los Angeles Kings by one point for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"It's disappointing not to get the two (points)," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "I thought we played well enough to get the two leading late, but it was a good job by our guys coming back in the third period."
Ellis tied it 3-3 with 1:06 remaining in the third period. With the extra skater on the ice, he beat Varlamov from the left circle with a slap shot short side.
"I thought the six guys on the ice did a really good job of setting up and establishing shots and getting into position to where they needed to be," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "So, when we shot, we were able to recover. So, we took three, four or five heavy shots there, and the last one went through."

Rantanen gave the Avalanche a 3-2 lead with a power-play goal at 14:22 of the third period. Nathan MacKinnon passed to Rantanen, who beat Rinne with a one-timer from the right circle.
"A point is better than zero, but a win was right there," Rantanen said. "They are probably one of the best teams in the league -- probably the best team in the League -- so we played good hockey, but it's a disappointing loss. You have to be proud of the guys, but disappointed as well."
Nieto tied it 2-2 at 4:38 of the third period. His initial shot from the left circle went off Rinne's right shoulder and hit the crossbar before Kevin Fiala knocked the bouncing puck into his own net.
Turris scored a power-play goal at 8:08 of the second period to give the Predators a 2-1 lead, shooting past Varlamov's glove from the left circle off a pass from Ellis.
Zadorov tied it 1-1 at 12:57 of the first period after serving a high-sticking penalty. He exited the box, received a pass from Carl Soderberg, and beat Rinne with a shot from the top of the left circle.
The Predators took a 1-0 lead at 3:09 when Watson's shot from the high slot deflected off Avalanche defenseman Anton Lindholm.

"We have been playing good hockey," Ellis said. "It hasn't been the prettiest of ways we have been getting it done, but good teams are finding ways to get points and today was no different."

Goal of the game

Forsberg's goal 1:07 into overtime.

Save of the game

Rinne's save on MacKinnon at 13:30 of second period.

Highlight of the game

Ellis' goal with 1:06 left in third period.

They said it

"Right now, the confidence level is really high and it shows a lot of character too, not giving up. It's a great road trip for us. For a while now we have been playing with a lot of confidence and this is obviously a big booster again." -- Predators goalie Pekka Rinne
"We came home and we get seven of eight points, guys are playing the right way. We did a nice job. That's a successful homestand. Now we're taking it on the road and we have to make sure were mirroring what we're doing at home. If we do that, we'll be fine." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar

Need to know

Ellis, who scored the tying goal with 2:15 remaining in regulation of the Predators' overtime win against the Vancouver Canucks on Friday, became the second defenseman in NHL history to score a tying goal in the final three minutes of regulation in consecutive team games, joining Andy Sutton who did so with the Atlanta Thrashers in 2003-04. ... Nashville is 9-0-3 in its past 12 road games. ... MacKinnon has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in a five-game point streak and 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in his past seven games. ... Predators defenseman Roman Josi was scratched because of an upper-body injury.

What's next

Predators: Host the Dallas Stars on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; FS-TN, FS-SW+, NHL.TV)
Avalanche: At the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday (8:30 p.m. ET; WGN, ALT, NHL.TV)