NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Colorado Avalanche lost goalie Darcy Kuemper late in the first period. Their power play is so strong right now that’s all they lost.
Gabriel Landeskog scored twice in the second period, and the top-seeded Avalanche beat the Nashville Predators 7-3 Saturday for a commanding 3-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference series.
Landeskog also had two assists. Nazem Kadri and Devon Toews each added a goal and an assist, and Artturi Lehkonen and Nathan MacKinnon scored a power-play goal apiece as Colorado went 4 for 5 on the man advantage to push Nashville to the brink of elimination. Cale Makar had three assists.
Devon Toews #7 celebrates his goal with Gabriel Landeskog #92 and Nazem Kadri #91.NHLI via Getty Images“I’ve liked our power play a lot in this series, and tonight we just converted on our chances,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “Sometimes it’s as simple as that.”
Valeri Nichushkin added an empty-net goal with 2:46 left. The Avs had a couple missed opportunities once Nashville pulled goalie Connor Ingram with more than 4 minutes remaining.
Avalanche goalie Darcy Kuemper was hurt with a minute left in the first period. Pavel Francouz replaced him and made 18 saves in his seventh career playoff appearance. Francouz didn’t see what happened to Kuemper, only that his teammate was in a lot of pain and he was going in immediately.
Bednar said Kuemper took a stick to the eye, leaving him with swelling. Kuemper will be re-evaluated and could be available Monday night for Game 4.
Avalanche goaltender Darcy Kuemper (35) is helped off the ice after getting injured.AP“I didn’t even know that something like this could happen until today,” Francouz said. “I’ve never seen such an injury. It’s obviously scary that the stick can fit into the cage, but I think it’s a really small chance that something like this can happen.”
Matt Duchene, Eeli Tolvanen and captain Roman Josi each scored goals for Nashville. Alexandre Carrier had two assists.
This is the first time the Predators have trailed 0-3 in a series, and they will try to avoid being swept for the first time in their 15 playoff appearances.
“We have to win one,” Nashville coach John Hynes said. “You look at it right now we’ve got a group that’s been resilient. We know what it is. And you’re not out of a series until it hits four.”
Colorado has simply dominated the Predators, outscoring them 16-6 with a 137-81 difference in shots through the first three games.
Lehkonen got the Avs on the board first yet again midway through the first on yet another Nashville penalty, deflecting a slap shot by Toews. MacKinnon made it 2-0 just 21 seconds into the Avs’ next man advantage at 16:07.
Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (center) celebrates his goal with left wing Gabriel Landeskog (left) during the first period on Saturday.APDuchene got Nashville on the board, scoring on a wrister at 17:37. Then Predators center Ryan Johansen’s stick caught Kuemper’s face, and Francouz replaced him in net.
The Predators managed to score twice on the man advantage in the second with Tolvanen scoring from the dot in the left face-off circle at 5:41. Landeskog beat Ingram with a backhander on the man advantage midway through the second for a 3-2 lead, then Josi tied it with a slap shot from the blue line at 12:11.
Landeskog scored his second at 14:02 to put Colorado ahead to stay.
The Avs got another man advantage when Nashville lost its challenge of Landeskog’s goal for Lehkonen interfering with Ingram. Predators forward Mikael Granlund was blamed for the contact. Ingram played the puck behind the net, lost the puck and Kadri scored into the open net just 39 seconds later for a 5-3 lead.
“That’s exactly the risk you take challenging sometimes,” Landeskog said. “That’s what we did last game, and we ended up getting a penalty on it. That was a big swing for sure, and we were able to get a bounce on the next power play and Naz cashes in. Definitely a big swing in the game.”
Toews padded the lead with a shot from the top of the left circle midway through the third.
