NASHVILLE -- Ryan O'Reilly had two goals and two assists to help the Nashville Predators to a 6-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Bridgestone Arena on Sunday.
Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist, Filip Forsberg had a goal and two assists and Roman Josi had three assists for the Predators (4-3-4), who have points in four of their past five games (2-1-2). Justus Annunen made 19 saves.
O’Reilly scored two power-play goals to help Nashville finish 4-for-7 on the man-advantage.
“Your best players win you the most games, and they won us that game tonight,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “I thought all of them (displayed) a bit of a masterclass of puck strength and connection when they were on the ice.
I thought the power play was great. That’s what we need.
We had a lot of ingredients in that game.
Artturi Lehkonen and Devon Toews scored for the Avalanche (6-5-1), who have lost three of four. Martin Necas had two assists, and Scott Wedgewood made 29 saves.
“We should have been the team with more energy
with (Nashville) playing the back-to-back on the road and us here waiting for them,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “It looked like it was the exact opposite.
Some of the things we talked about was using our skating to check and to attack, and we looked like we were the more sluggish group. The second thing we talked about was making sure we stayed out of the penalty box, and that was the exact opposite too.”
Forsberg put Nashville ahead 1-0 with a power-play goal at 4:01 of the first period. Stamkos kept the puck in the offensive zone by blocking Logan O'Connor's clearing attempt along the boards, allowing Josi to collect the loose puck and feed Forsberg for a snap shot from the high slot.
Stamkos made it 2-0 at 10:48 after video review showed his wrist shot bounced off Wedgewood and fully crossed the goal line. Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar swatted at the bouncing puck but was unable to keep it out of the net.
“I wasn’t confident when I skated back to the bench, and they were all telling me it didn’t go in,” Stamkos said. “I had already accepted the fact that it was no goal.
When they started showing it on the jumbotron, I was like, ‘Wait a minute.’”
O’Reilly used his skate to corral a pass from Josi, then turned and lifted a backhanded shot over Wedgewood for his first goal at 6:38 of the second period, putting the Predators up 3-0.
Former Avalanche forwards Ross Colton and Jack Drury, skating in their first game against their former team, connected to extend Nashville’s lead to 4-0 at 16:36. Colton found Drury alone on Wedgewood’s blocker side, and Drury tucked a backhand shot around the goaltender’s outstretched glove.
“I was happy for Ross,” Drury said. “He’s played well the last couple of games.
We came really close in Pittsburgh to connecting on one there at the end of the (second) period (Saturday), but he made a great play and was fired up. It was a cool moment to share with him.”
O’Reilly’s second power-play tally came on a wrist shot at 17:29 to give the Predators a 5-0 advantage.
“We had 20 drivers tonight,” Brunette said. “Every time it was their turn to grab the wheel, they floored it.
I think it sets up a little bit of what my expectations for this group were, kind of the standard we’re trying to set. We know we can’t get it every night, but we know we can do it, and we need to bring it a little more each night.”
Lehkonen extended his point streak to seven games by tapping in Necas’ centering feed to trim Nashville’s lead to 5-1 at 17:55. He has 10 points (seven goals, three assists) on his streak.
Toews scored on a wrist shot at 2:43 of the third period during 4-on-4 play to make it 5-2.
Stamkos scored on a 5-on-3 power play when the Predators caught Wedgewood out of the net at 10:24. O’Reilly picked up a rebound shot behind the net and sent a backhanded pass to Stamkos, who fired a wrist shot from the right side for the 6-2 final.
“(Colorado) was taking certain things away and leaving certain things open,” Stamkos said. “We exposed that tonight.
You never know when it’s going to be your night in terms of what’s going to be open and what’s not. The guys took advantage of it for sure.”
NOTES: The Predators scored four power-play goals for the first time since Jan. 7, 2012, matching their third-highest total in a game in franchise history.
Defenseman Daemon Hunt made his Predators debut and had two shots and one hit in 9:34 of ice time.
Avalanche forward Nicolas Roy (lower body) missed his sixth straight game.
