Avalanche falls short at Predators, despite two goals from Matt Duchene

NASHVILLE — Playing his first NHL game of the season Tuesday, defenseman Cody Goloubef had a nightmarish debut with the Avalanche, going minus-2 and taking two penalties against the Nashville Predators. He had company. Fellow Colorado blue-liner Eric Gelinas also made a key mistake at Bridgestone Arena, where the Avalanche failed to take advantage of a two-goal game by Matt Duchene and saw its winless skid grow to six (0-5-1).

In the end, a 5-on-3 power-play goal was the difference in the Preds’ 4-3 triumph. After Goloubef and partner Francois Beauchemin took penalties at 19:17 of the second period, Nashville capitalized 1:04 into the third for a 4-3 lead. Avs goalie Semyon Varlamov didn’t…