DENVER – Joey Hishon broke a third-period tie with his first NHL goal, Semyon Varlamov stopped 40 shots, and the Colorado Avalanche beat Nashville 3-2 on Tuesday night to send the Predators to their fourth consecutive loss.
Calle Jarnkrok and Ryan Ellis had scored for the Predators, who remain a point behind St. Louis for the Central Division title with two games remaining. The Blues lost to Winnipeg 1-0 earlier.
Jarome Iginla and Ryan O’Reilly had goals 9 seconds apart in the second period for Colorado, which was eliminated from the playoff chase last week. The Avs captured the Central crown a season ago.
Hishon, playing in his 11th game since being recalled from Lake Erie of the AHL last month, split two Nashville defenders and beat Pekka Rinne with a wrist shot at 7:06 of the final period.
The Predators pulled Rinne with about 1:35 remaining, but they couldn’t get anything by Varlamov, who turned back defenseman Roman Josi’s blast from the blue line just before the final buzzer. This isn’t exactly the way the Predators want to head into the playoffs. They’re now 6-10-3 since Feb. 26.
With seconds remaining in the second period, Ellis limped off the ice after being checked into the boards by Jan Hejda, who drew an interference penalty.
Ellis returned to start the third and tied the game with a power-play goal. Just 18 seconds later, it looked as if the Predators had taken a 3-2 lead, but the officials ruled no goal after Paul Gaustad bumped Varlamov.
However, replays seemed to indicate that Varlamov tripped over his own skate, not from contact by Gaustad. Nashville head coach Peter Laviolette appealed to the officials, but the call stood.
Everything was going Nashville’s way until late in the second period when a Nashville player collided with an official and turned over the puck. That led to a goal by Iginla, his 27th of the season.
Moments later, O’Reilly took a pass from Gabriel Landeskog and beat Rinne with a slap shot.
Jarnkrok gave the Predators a 1-0 lead early in the game when he found an opening in the Colorado end and sent a slap shot just past the glove of Varlamov. It was Jarnkrok’s first goal since Feb. 24 against Colorado.
The save of the first period was turned in by center Colin Wilson after a shot by Iginla trickled past Rinne and slowly rolled near the goal. Wilson quickly flipped it away as several Avalanche players quickly swarmed toward the net.
Avalanche slide
Ellis played in his 200th career NHL game. ... Forward Mike Santorelli was a scratch. He missed the game Saturday with an illness. ... Gaustad was back in the lineup after sitting out a game with an upper-body injury. ... Avalanche D Erik Johnson (knee) skated Monday, but coach Patrick Roy said he would be “very surprised” if Johnson played the final two games. ... Iginla now has 61 career points in 57 games against Nashville. Only Pavel Datsyuk (72) has more versus the Predators.
