Predators 4, Avalanche 3, OT
Associated Press

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DENVER (AP) -With Nashville trailing 3-2 after surrendering three straight goals, Predators coach Barry Trotz sensed the game slipping away and called a timeout.

The strategy stopped the Avalanche's momentum and kept the Predators' winning streak alive.

David Legwand scored at 3:07 of overtime to give Nashville a 4-3 victory over Colorado on Wednesday night, the Predators' seventh straight victory.

J.P. Dumont, Marcel Goc and Shea Weber also scored, and Pekka Rinna made 19 saves in Nashville's 11th victory in its last 13 games.

The streak was in jeopardy when Nashville blew a 2-0 lead, but the timeout allowed the players to regroup.

"We just stopped skating when we had the lead," Trotz said.

The Predators responded with a power-play goal from Shea Weber 3:32 later to tie it, and Legwand struck with his sixth career overtime goal.

"I just threw it toward the net," Legwand said. "We got the puck off to the side of the net and we kept the pressure on them."

Legwand Leading The Way
David Legwand scored the game-winner 3:07 into overtime tonight, the third time in the last five games he's netted the winning tally for the Preds.

Legwand scored the game-winning goal last Tuesday night vs. San Jose -- part of a three point night -- as Nashville topped the No. 1 team in the Western Conference, 4-3.

He followed that with the shootout winner on Saturday night vs. division rival Columbus -- after scoring a goal and an assist during regulation. Over the past eight days Legwand has scored three goals and seven points plus the shootout winner.

Perhaps lost among his offensive production has been Legwand's defensive contributions; Coach Trotz has used Legwand to match-up against the top offensive line for the Preds opponents -- including Joe Thornton and Dany Heatly on the 17th, Zach Parise on the 19th, Rick Nash on the 21st, and Pavel Datsyuk on the 23rd -- surviving with a +1 plus/minus rating through that daunting run.

Legwand's offensive and defensive exploits have been a major factor in the Preds recent success.
--Jay Levin, NashvillePredators.com

Legwand didn't react right away because he didn't know the puck went in the net.

"When (Jason Arnott's) hands went up and I saw it," Legwand said. "I saw his hands go up so I figured it was in the net."

Milan Hejduk had a goal and an assist, rookie defenseman Ryan Wilson, Marek Svatos added goals, and Craig Anderson stopped 23 shots for Colorado. The Avalanche have lost three of their last four.

Colorado earned a point in the loss, but early on it looked as if Nashville would run away with a win.

Nashville got on the board when the Avalanche couldn't clear the puck out of their zone during a penalty kill. Arnott got the puck at the right circle, sent a pass through the defense and Dumont redirected it past Anderson 3 minutes into the game.

Goc made it 2-0 when he one-timed a pass from Martin Erat with 9:08 left in the first period.

"We need to have a better start, but we got ourselves back into the game," Colorado coach Joe Sacco said.

The Avalanche cut the lead in half when Wilson skated into the Nashville end and beat Rinne with a wrister at the 3:39 mark of the second period.

"I saw a spot where I could jump into the play, and Hejduk hit me with a good pass," said Wilson, who has two goals in 14 games. "I saw the hole and dropped a shot in."

Colorado tied it when Hejduk scored a power-play goal with 8:48 left in the frame, his team-leading 11th goal of the season.

Three minutes later, Svatos scored his sixth goal to give the Avalanche a 3-2 lead.

"They had the momentum going at that point they scored three goals in a row, and they had some other chances," said Rinna, who tied the franchise goalie record with his seventh straight victory. "Then we had that big power play. That was a huge goal for us. We had some good chances and eventually Leggy scored a big goal for us."

Anderson briefly preserved the lead when he made a save on Joel Ward's breakaway chance, but Weber tied it with a power-play goal with 1:53 left in the period.

"Power plays go with winning games," Weber said. "It's definitely a difference maker."

NOTES: Nashville's win streak is one shy of the franchise record set Oct. 5-25, 2005. ... Avalanche D Adam Foote (jaw) missed his fourth straight game. ... Colorado has outshot its opponents four times in 25 games. ... Nashville is 12-0-0 when scoring a power-play goal. ... The Predators scored two power-play goals tonight, their their consecutive game with multiple power-play goal. ... Nashville forward Jordin Tootoo has recorded a point in three consecutive road games.


Three star selections
1st:   DAVID LEGWAND
2nd:   MILAN HEJDUK
3rd:   SHEA WEBER
Winning Goaltender
Pekka Rinne

Losing Goaltender
Craig Anderson

SCHEDULE

HOME
AWAY
PROMOTIONAL

STANDINGS

WESTERN CONFERENCE
  TEAM GP W L OT GF GA PTS
1 p - CHI 48 36 7 5 155 102 77
2 y - ANA 48 30 12 6 140 118 66
3 y - VAN 48 26 15 7 127 121 59
4 x - STL 48 29 17 2 129 115 60
5 x - LAK 48 27 16 5 133 118 59
6 x - SJS 48 25 16 7 124 116 57
7 x - DET 48 24 16 8 124 115 56
8 x - MIN 48 26 19 3 122 127 55
9 CBJ 48 24 17 7 120 119 55
10 PHX 48 21 18 9 125 131 51
11 DAL 48 22 22 4 130 142 48
12 EDM 48 19 22 7 125 134 45
13 CGY 48 19 25 4 128 160 42
14 NSH 48 16 23 9 111 139 41
15 COL 48 16 25 7 116 152 39

STATS

2012-2013 REGULAR SEASON
SKATERS: GP G A +/- Pts
S. Weber 48 9 19 -2 28
D. Legwand 48 12 13 -6 25
M. Fisher 38 10 11 6 21
C. Wilson 25 7 12 1 19
R. Josi 48 5 13 -7 18
G. Bourque 34 11 5 6 16
S. Kostitsyn 46 3 12 -5 15
P. Hornqvist 24 4 10 -1 14
K. Klein 47 3 11 -1 14
N. Spaling 47 9 4 -10 13
 
GOALIES: W L OT Sv% GAA
P. Rinne 15 16 8 .910 2.43
C. Mason 1 7 1 .873 3.73

 


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