Samuel Girard’s OT goal pushes Avalanche past Predators

Samuel Girard scored at 2:47 of overtime and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 in Denver on Monday night.

Nashville defenseman Brady Skeji had the puck just inside the blueline in the Colorado zone but lost a rim. Girard took the puck, skated in on Juuse Saros in front of Skeji and scored over Saros’ block to win it.

It was his first goal of the season and he also added an assist on the night.

Mikko Rantanen and Devon Toews also scored and Alexandar Georgiev turned away 29 shots for the Avalanche, who have won two straight.

Luke Evangelista and Colton Sissons scored for the Predators, and Saros finished with 29 saves.

Georgiev allowed an early goal for the second straight game, but then kept Nashville off the board for the next two periods. The Predators got that goal 1:45 into a delayed penalty.

Juuso Parssinen took a shot from the point where Georgiev stopped, but Evangelista took the rebound and tapped it in for his second goal of the season.

It remained that way until the second period. Four seconds after Nashville killed Zachary L’Heureux’s minor, Toews took a shot from the point that deflected off a Predators stick and off Saros at 4:32.

It was Toews’ first goal of the season.

The Avalanche took the lead midway through the second when Joel Kiviranta had the puck at the top of the slot, passed it to Rantanen in the right circle, and his one-timer beat Saros to the short side at 11:37.

It was his ninth of the season and second straight game with a goal.

Nashville tied the game in the first minute of the final period. Roman Josi stole the puck on the Colorado blueline, skated into the zone and fed Sissons with a pass to the side of the crease. Sissons slid it into a wide-open net at 59 seconds.

It was his second of the season.

–Field-level media