The mood at the end of the main round could hardly have been more different. While the Colorado Avalanche made the division win in the Central Division perfect with a 4-3 win on Friday and are looking forward to the Stanley Cup Playoffs full of self-confidence, the Nashville Predators say goodbye to a season without a playoff qualification with a loss.
“Today’s game was a bit of a summary of the whole season,” concluded the Predators forward Kiefer Sherwood. “Things don’t always go according to plan but we pulled ourselves together and showed the right reaction. We had a chance to win the game in the end. But this team is also the reigning Stanley Cup winners for a good reason .”
After Devon Toews scored the opening goal for the Avalanche, the other three goals went to the account of Nathan MacKinnon. In fact, however, the Predators gave up, who continued to look after the injured Swiss Roman Josie had to do without, not beaten. Sherwood scored two goals and one goal Luke Evangelista. Nashville equalized a two-goal deficit and went into the final third with a 3:3, but ultimately had to admit defeat.
Video: COL@NSH: MacKinnon scores his 2nd goal of the game
In the end, the Predators were three points short of second wildcard spot. Coach John Hynes ventured a conclusion: “Of course there was a lot of adversity with the injuries and everything that happened with the trade deadline. But that’s how it is in professional sports and in the NHL. You have to deal with the adversity. That’s why it’s the best league in the world and that’s why it’s the toughest league in the world.”
There Center Colton Sissons On the other hand, the season was also able to gain a lot of positives: “It was fun. We stuck together despite many adversities. On most evenings that we were on the ice, nobody believed us capable of anything. But we believed in the group that we and played in a certain way so that we could win hockey games and be in the fight (for the playoffs).”
Winger Evangelista chose similarly positive words: “We’re very proud. Even for me, who hasn’t been here that long, it’s kind of an emotional feeling. We’ve had such a great run with this group. And we’re all the way to We ended up with only two games left. We’re sad it’s over but I think overall we’re just proud of the way we’ve reacted after the deadline.”
The Avalanche could also be particularly proud that they secured first place in the Central Division in the last game of the season. “That should mean a lot to these guys,” said Avalanche coach Jared Bednar. “These guys put their heart and soul into this regular season and have only grown from strength to strength over the year and despite all the adversities we’ve faced. We’ve had different guys who have had strong development at different times. And our leaders have been outstanding so to be able to achieve our regular season goal of winning the division and securing home advantage if we’re lucky enough to get through to the second round is a great thing and we should make us feel good about it.”
Colorado will play the first playoff game on Tuesday (10:00 p.m. ET, NHL.tv, Wed. 4:00 p.m. EDT) when Phillip Grubauer and the Seattle Kraken will be visiting Denver. The form speaks more for the Avalanche: While Seattle lost the last two games of the regular season, Colorado has scored in all eight games in April and won seven of them.
But in the playoffs, the cards are known to be reshuffled.
