The Avalanche, led by Mikko Rantanen’s hat trick, got back to winning on Saturday night, and the return of rookie defenseman Bo Byram certainly helped.
Byram, who missed the previous six games while overcoming at least his third concussion of 2021, logged 22:00 minutes and scored the game-winning goal in Colorado’s 6-2 victory over the Nashville Predators at Ball Arena.
“I’ve been feeling pretty good for a while,” Byram, 20, said during the second intermission. Took me a while … but I feel good and I’m just trying to play simple hockey.”
Rantanen had three goals and four points and defensemen Cale Makar had three assists for the Avalanche, which improved to 7-1 with star center Nathan MacKinnon.