The sweep of the NHL from Monday night starts in Nashville where the Predators let one get away as the Colorado Avalanche won, 4-3, in regulation.
Semyon Varlamov made 32 saves in the win and had to hold the Preds off late as they rallied from a 4-1 deficit to get close.
Shawn Matthias scored what ended being the game-winner.
“The guys were competing tonight,” Matthias said. “We wanted it. We’re still in this race, we believe in each other. It’s a big team win.”
Carter Hutton took the loss on.
The Avs needed the win to get closer to the Minnesota Wild for the final wild card spot; they trail by three points in that race.
“It was a chance for us to play a strong game and prove that we were not going to give up, and that’s what I said to these guys before the game,” Colorado coach Patrick Roy said. “All year, we never give up. I thought we were always resilient after losses and we’ve been playing well on the road. I thought our guys responded really well.”
Colton Sissons and Roman Josi rallied the Preds late with goals 24 seconds apart but it wasn’t enough.
“Right now, you’re just mad about losing the game,” Josi said. “Obviously, you want to win those games. Like I said, it’s just frustrating that we lost.”
A win in regulation would have clinched a playoff berth for Nashville.
Blake Comeau, Gabriel Landeskog and Jack Skille also scored for the Avs.
“We’re at a point where it’s just find a way to win the game and get two points,” Comeau said. “I know it sounds clichĂ©, but we’ve been in those games where we’ve been on the wrong end, so it was nice to be able to just buckle down and win by a goal. No matter how ugly it got at the end, we got it done.”
In Detroit, the Red Wings built a 3-0 lead on goals from Dylan Larkin, Riley Sheahan and Luke Glendening and then had to hang on as the Buffalo Sabres rallied but fell short in a 3-2 Detroit win.
The two points helped the Wings keep pace with the Philadelphia Flyers.
“I thought we had to be good. I thought we were. … obviously, until the very end there,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “I thought we played a good game, we didn’t give them much, didn’t give up many shots, didn’t give up a whole lots of chances. Obviously there’s still corrections we can make with some mistakes. Overall, I thought it was good.”
Jimmy Howard made 18 save in the win.
Zemgus Girgensons and Sam Reinhart scored for the Sabres.
“It’s about how we played all game, the last three to five minutes,” Sabres captain Brian Gionta said. “We had a tough time tonight, a tough time getting on the puck, dealing with their execution.”
The rally started with just three minutes left in the game.
“Unfortunately, it took too long. … But no excuse for starting late,” Reinhart said.
The Red Wings are still reeling a bit from a shelling they took at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins over the weekend.
“I think the last game (a 7-2 loss against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday) might have been a little tough for us but it was big to get the first goal tonight,” Larkin said. “I think the second one was an even bigger goal. I think we do have to work on taking the lead all the way to the end and playing a full 60 minutes.”
In Tampa, the Lightning’s Ben Bishop had 34 saves in a 3-0 shutout of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“There are team shutouts and there are goalie shutouts, take a guess which one that was,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “There are games you’re going play and you walk out of there wondering how we didn’t get a point. And then you have games, hopefully there are not near as many, where you say for sure we didn’t deserve to roll out of there with a 3-0 win.”
Mike Blunden, Ondrej Palat and Victor Hedman scored for the Bolts.
“I didn’t think we played bad against Florida and lost (5-2 on Saturday), but clearly we didn’t play up to our standard,” Hedman said. “We’ll come in [Tuesday] look at some tape and fix some things in practice. They deserve credit too. They played hard and fast and made us work.”
The Leafs outshot Tampa, 34-18, and went scoreless in seven power play chances.
“Their goalie did a good job and they got enough to win,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “We didn’t score. We had point-blank chances and three open nets but we didn’t score. Can’t win without scoring.”
Garret Sparks took the loss on 15 saves.
“You can’t take any credit away from [Bishop],” Leafs’ Nazem Kadri said. “He’s just so big, I mean anything he doesn’t see seems to just hit him and square to the corners. He’s did a good job of getting in front of it.”
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