The suddenly shorthanded Avalanche saw its five-game winning streak end Thursday at Bridgestone Arena, where the Nashville Predators never trailed in a 5-2 victory. Combined, the Avs and Preds were missing 12 players because of COVID protocol, including three Colorado players who were told they couldn’t play hours ahead of the game.
The Avs (17-8-2) saw their season put on hold a day later by the NHL, with the league postponing all of their games through the end of the holiday weekend. That included a scheduled visit from the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
Five takeaways from Music City:
They didn’t have to play.