Mackenzie Blackwood came up big in the Colorado Avalanche’s win at the Nashville Predators on Saturday night.
Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog celebrates a goal by defenseman Brent Burns, not visible, along with Colorado defenseman Josh Manson during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Nashville Predators, Saturday, Nov.
22, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. NASHVILLE — Scott Wedgewood has been one of the great stories in the NHL at the start of the 2025-26 season, to the point where Mackenzie Blackwood has not had the chance to work through some injury-related rust with a typical starter’s workload. Blackwood picked a great time to have his best game of the young season Saturday night. The Colorado Avalanche struggled at times in front of him, but Blackwood was outstanding with 35 saves in a 3-0 victory against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. It wasn’t pretty, but the Avs have now won eight straight games and are 10-0-2 in the past 12. Nathan MacKinnon scored his league-leading 17th goal into an empty net, and Jack Drury added another empty-netter as the Avs pushed their league-leading record to 15-1-5. The Avs certainly started fast. A shot from the right halfwall by Brent Burns beat Juuse Saros just 15 seconds into this contest. It was Burns’ second goal with the Avalanche. Colorado leads the NHL with five opening-minute goals this season. All of them have come in the past 10 contests. The remaining 19:45 of the opening period was the Blackwood show. Nashville finished the opening frame with a 16-7 advantage in shots on goal. Colorado has been the league’s top possession team, leading the NHL in several advanced stats at 5-on-5. The Avs had one of their worst periods of the season on that front. Nashville had 75% of the shot attempts at 5-on-5, and created 84.98% of the expected goals, according to Natural Stat Trick. The Avs were better in the second period, but still far from the machine-like efficiency that helped them become the fourth team in league history to play 20 games with only one loss in regulation. When the Avs haven’t been at their best this season, it’s typically been Wedgewood who has helped keep the hot start rolling. Blackwood wasn’t ready to start the season, and his play hadn’t been up to the same standard he set last year after arriving in a trade from San Jose.Grading The Week: Broncos, Avs, Wil Lutz, CU soccer, DU soccer giving Denver fans reasons to be thankfulAvalanche’s Cale Makar after three-point barrage vs. Rangers: ‘I’ve still got more in the tank’ Avalanche superstars Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar carry club past Rangers to keep red-hot start rolling This looked more like the best version of Blackwood. He made athletic saves. He made tough stops look easy. There was little in the way of rebounds for the Predators to capitalize on. There were also changes on the power play. Captain Gabe Landeskog joined the top unit for the first time this season, replacing Victor Olofsson. Martin Necas shifted over to the right flank, with Landeskog and Artturi Lehkonen in the middle. The changes did not produce immediate results — Colorado was 0 for 2 with the man advantage. While the power play has been inconsistent, the penalty kill has been outstanding for much of the season. The PK bounced back after yielding a pair of goals to the New York Rangers two nights ago. Nashville went 0 for 3 with only one shot on goal — two fewer than the Avs had while shorthanded.before this game. He’s expected to be re-evaluated in a few weeks. Jason Polin made his season debut in Brindley’s place. … Colorado coach Jared Bednar said during Altitude’s pregame radio show that two of the Avs’ injured forwards, Valeri Nichushkin and Joel Kiviranta, could return as soon as next weekend. Billionaire ranch owner violated Colorado environmental laws during construction of controversial fence After 50 years, Boulder’s famed Dark Horse bar to be demolished, move to make way for housing developmentFormer bike builder’s ring business goes from side job to seven-figure salesDriving a 2WD vehicle on I-70 in a storm? New traction law requires chains or anti-slip devicesDenver ties mark Friday for second-latest date for a first snowfall
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