Avalanche-Predators Game 3 Quick Hits: Somehow, poking Darcy Kuemper in the face isn’t worthy of a penalty

Quick hitters from the Avalanche’s 7-3 win over Nashville in Game 3 on Saturday:

Call it Crashville. The Nashville crowd may have been late arriving to Bridgestone Arena, but the Predators meant business in the first 10 minutes, outshooting Colorado 6-3. Then came the ultimate no-no: Giving the Avs a man advantage. Consider this: The Avs are so loaded, defenseman Devon Toews is the guy quarterbacking the second power play. Talk about a luxury. Taser capitalized on a clean look with a laser beam from the point that Artturi Lehkonen deflected for Colorado’s first goal at 10:45. Then Nathan MacKinnon picked up a blue-collar tally a few minutes later after another Preds penalty. Just in time for the Smashville stragglers to find their seats, and get a preview of the rest of their day.

Where’s the whistle?. Can someone tap Preds center Ryan Johansen on the shoulder and remind him to pay attention to what’s going on with his stick? And, while you’re at it, let the referees know that when a goaltender’s eye nearly gets poked out, that should probably draw a penalty. Alas, there was no whistle before the Avs’ Darcy Kuemper crumpled to the ice near the end of the first period. The Avs did get a break of their own in the second period, however, when Lehkonen wasn’t called for goaltender interference on Gabe Landeskog’s go-ahead goal — a ruling TNT rules analyst Don Koharski disagreed with, and one that was essentially good for two tallies after the failed challenge led to another Avs power-play goal.

Burky giveth, taketh. If we’re doing plus/minus on power-play opportunities, Andre Burakovsky comes up Even Steven for his work Saturday afternoon. The Avs winger’s brilliant individual effort in the Nashville zone drew a critical tripping penalty with the score knotted at 2-all and the Predators holding all the momentum. The Avs promptly cashed in for a 3-2 lead, which didn’t last long due Burakovsky’s unnecessary holding penalty a few minutes later that allowed the Predators to draw even again with their own power-play goal. In the end, it’s just a footnote due to the Avs’ man-advantage mastery. But that sort of penalty could be a killer in later rounds.

Source: Read Full Article