Two defining moments that led to the Nashville Predators’ 5-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche

The Nashville Predators was unable to build further Thursday’s win in Dallas, lost 5-2 to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday in Denver and falls to 8-17-6 this season.

The Predator put 39 shots on Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, but like so many goaltenders against Nashville this season, turned most of them away with ease.

Two goals by Steven Stamkos and Luke Evangelista were too little, too late, and now the Predators return home with just one win in their last 10 games.

As so often happens in hockey, this loss came down to two small plays that made a big impact.

Marc Del Gaizo’s defensive error gives Colorado an easy score

After the Avalanche took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Ross Colton, the Predators aimed to equalize. And there was good reason to believe they could – to that point the Predators were the better of the two teams, putting up more shots and forcing Blackwood to make some tough saves.

But with just over a minute left in the second period, Predators defenseman Marc Del Gaizo made a crucial mistake.

With the puck on the left side of the defense, he had a chance to clear the puck despite pressure from Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen. But he delayed a second too long for Rantanen to knock the puck loose.

Rantanen pounced and sent a pass to MacKinnon, who streaked to Juuse Saros for an easy breakaway score.

That made it 2-0 Avalanche, turning the momentum of the game and forcing the Predators to fight uphill for the rest of the game.

Juuse Saros pulled in an inconvenient moment in the final moments

Down by three goals, goals by Stamkos and Evangelista sparked Nashville to life. With two minutes left, the Predators looked poised to steal a tying goal and beat the Ball Arena crowd.

As you might expect, the Predators drafted Saros for an extra forward, but the timing of the move was suspect.

Usually teams pull their goalie after a neutral zone or offensive zone and only after winning the puck. But the Predators pulled Saros after a defensive draw and without clear control of the puck.

With the score tied, Saros began to skate away as defenseman Brady Skjei lobbed the puck to center ice. Ryan O’Reilly got it and fed Stamkos on a zone entry, but a quick turnover allowed defenseman Cale Makar to skate out with the puck. That led to an easy empty net score for MacKinnon.

Pulling the goalkeeper is not a bad strategy, but pulling him without clear possession is unwise. That mistake prevented the Predators from any late-game heroics.

Nashville returns home to face the New York Rangers on Tuesday (7 p.m. CT, FanDuel Sports Network).

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Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at [email protected]. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.

This article originally appeared on the Nashville Tennessean: Two defining moments that led to the Predators’ 5-2 loss to the Avalanche