Predators out due to Saros injury, lack of scoring from top players

The Nashville Predators were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Colorado Avalanche, losing 5-3 in Game 4 of the best-of-7 Western Conference First Round on Monday.

Nashville (45-30-7) was the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference. The Predators have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs for eight straight seasons but have not won a series since defeating the Avalanche in the first round in 2018.

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The skinny

Potential unrestricted free agents:Matt Benning, D; Nick Cousins, F; Filip Forsberg, F; Ben Harpur, D; David Rittich, G
Potential restricted free agents: Cody Glass, F; Luke Kunin, F; Jeremy Lauzon, D; Matt Luff, F; Yakov Trenin, F
Potential 2022 Draft picks: 6
Here are five reasons the Predators were eliminated:

1. Saros injury

Starting goalie Juuse Saros did not play in the series because of a lower-body injury sustained during a 5-4 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames on April 26.
Saros was named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the best goalie in the NHL on Tuesday. He was 38-25-3 with a 2.64 goals-against average, a .918 save percentage and four shutouts in an NHL-high 67 games.
David Rittich started Game 1 but was pulled after allowing five goals on 13 shots in 15:04. Connor Ingram played the rest of the series, allowing 14 goals on 161 shots.

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2. Makar vs. Josi

The series was a matchup of two finalists for the Norris Trophy as the best defenseman in the NHL as voted by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
Roman Josi of the Predators led NHL defensemen with 96 points (23 goals, 73 assists) in 80 games; Cale Makar of the Avalanche was second with 86 points (28 goals, 58 assists) in 77 games. Makar led defensemen in goals and Josi was second.
But during the series, Makar scored 10 points (three goals, seven assists), the most by a defenseman through the first four games of a postseason in NHL history. Josi scored two points (one goal, one assist).
RELATED: [Complete Avalanche vs. Predators series coverage]

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3. Special teams

The Predators knew they couldn't afford to take penalties against the Avalanche.
They led the NHL in penalty minutes (1,035) and spent more time shorthanded (455:43) than any team but the Carolina Hurricanes (479:10) during the regular season, and they were 18th on the penalty kill (79.2 percent). The Avalanche were seventh on the power play (24.0 percent).
Still, forward Michael McCarron took a high-sticking penalty after the whistle 2:08 into Game 1, and Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon cashed in on the power play 12 seconds later, starting a snowball. The Avalanche took 5-0 first-period lead on their way to a 7-2 win.
The Avalanche went 4-for-5 on the power play in a 7-3 win in Game 3.
They were 7-for-16 on the power play in the series; the Predators were 3-for-13.

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4. Top scorers

The Predators' top goal-scorers in the regular season were Matt Duchene (43), Filip Forsberg (42), Ryan Johansen (26), Tanner Jeannot (24) and Josi (23).
Duchene scored three goals in the series, tied with Yakov Trenin for the Nashville lead, but two of his goals came in Game 1 after the Predators were behind 6-0.
Forsberg and Josi each scored one goal. Jeannot did not score.
Nashville scored nine goals in the series; Colorado scored 21.

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5. Lack of leads

A key moment in the series came in the third period of Game 2, when Forsberg hit the post during a 5-on-3 power play with the score tied 1-1.
Had that puck gone in, maybe the Predators would have won 2-1 instead of losing 2-1 in overtime. Maybe they would have had momentum coming home to Bridgestone Arena for Game 3 with the series tied 1-1. Maybe Forsberg would have gotten going.
But that puck didn't go in.
Nashville entered Game 4 as the only team in the playoffs that hadn't had a lead at any point in a series. Forsberg finally gave them one 3:58 into the third period when he scored to put Nashville ahead 3-2, but it lasted less than five minutes.
Devon Toews tied it 3-3 at 8:55, Valeri Nichushkin put Colorado ahead 4-3 at 12:02 and Nathan MacKinnon made it 5-3 with an empty-net goal on the power play at 19:04, icing the sweep.