The Colorado Avalanche advanced to the first round of the playoffs Monday night by defeating the Nashville Predators 5-3. The Avalanche therefore sweeps this series in four games.
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Nathan MacKinnon with his fifth in the playoffs, Andre Burakovsky, Cale Makar, Devon Toews and Valeri Nichushkin scored the winners. For the Predators, Yakov Trenin twice and Filip Forsberg beat Avalanche goalie Pavel Francouz.
The Colorado goaltender finished the game with 28 saves while his vis-à-vis Connor Ingram gave up four times on 37 shots.
Cale Makar and Andre Burakovsky finished the game with three points each.
By eliminating Nashville, the Avalanche reached the second round of the playoffs for a fourth straight season.