"I think we were a little nervous and a little tight, and you can't be against that team," Duchene said. "They play fast, and you've got to be fast and defuse them when they're playing at their best. We have a lot better, and we'll regroup. They have to beat us three more times, so there's some series left and we have to have a better effort."
"The reality is you are in Game 1 of the series, and in the playoffs you could lose the game like we did tonight, you could lose in triple overtime, but the fact is you didn't win Game 1," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said. "There were some pockets in the game where we did some good things, but we know that we can be better in a lot of areas, and that's what a series is. We lost the game. We weren't good enough. They were better than we were tonight. I think we hurt ourselves in certain areas that are easily correctable, and I think we have a better game on the ice."
Goals from Nathan MacKinnon, Devon Toews, Andrew Cogliano, Cale Makar and Artturi Lehkonen gave the Avalanche a five-goal lead after 20 minutes of play, a result that saw Preds goaltender Connor Ingram take over for David Rittich before the opening period was out.
Gabriel Landeskog made it 6-0 before Duchene capitalized on the power play at 18:40 of the second stanza. MacKinnon got his second of the night early in the third before Duchene finished off the scoring by beating Avalanche goaltender Darcy Kuemper on a breakaway before Game 1 was done.
"We need to be way better," Preds defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. "As a team we came out way too slow, and they took advantage of it. But the beauty of it is no matter if you lose 7-2 or 1-0 in these games, it's Game 1. We've got to be way better, myself included, coming into Game 2. So, it is a learning lesson for us, but it's one game out of seven."
Now, the Predators will turn their attention to Game 2 - and no matter the result in the first outing - Nashville knows they still have a chance to even the series before heading back home.
"We have a lot of character and we've got a lot of great leadership," Duchene said. "We're tight, and we're a family first. This is probably one of, if not the tightest team I've ever been on, and we have a lot more pride than what we showed tonight. We've always bounced back this year. 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, and we have to stand in there a lot better. They've got a lot of great players and a lot of talent. Great, great team. You've got to be a lot better and push back a lot better."
"In the playoffs, someone's going to win and lose the game," Hynes said. "At the end of the day when you're in a series and you're playing the same team, you have to [respond]. Whether it's individual players have to be better or some things tactically we can improve upon, that's what this is about. We know that's what our job is as coaches and players. So, you've got to take the lessons out of this one, and we've got to do better. And Game 2 is a completely different game."
