Predators close out Avalanche with rout

It took a bit longer than many pundits anticipated, but the Nashville Predators are moving on to the second round of the NHL playoffs.
Nick Bonino enjoyed the first three-point game of his playoff career Sunday while Pekka Rinne stopped 22 shots for his fourth postseason shutout as Nashville routed the Colorado Avalanche 5-0 at Pepsi Center in Denver, clinching a 4-2 win in the teams’ Western Conference quarterfinal.
The result sets up a monstrous matchup, at least on paper, in the conference semifinals. The Predators, who won the Presidents’ Trophy with 117 points, will face the Winnipeg Jets and their 114 regular-season points. Game 1 will be sometime late next week in Tennessee.
Pushed throughout this series by a Colorado team that overcame a handful of key injuries to be a worthy opponent, the Predators displayed the form in the series clincher that made them the NHL’s best team during the regular season.
Just 16 seconds after Colton Sissons’ goal was waved off for goaltender interference by Kyle Turris, Nashville scored one that couldn’t be erased. Mattias Ekholm became the Predators’ first defenseman to tally in the series with a slapper from the left circle at 7:02 of the first period.
Austin Watson made it 2-0 at 10:19 of the first. Sissons beat Avalanche goalie Andrew Hammond but not the left post. Watson collected the rebound and shovelled it into a vacated net for his fourth goal of the series.
Filip Forsberg upped the margin to three just 38 seconds into the second period. On a two-on-one rush with Viktor Arvidsson, Forsberg flicked a wrister from the left circle that squeezed between Hammond’s left arm and side for his fourth goal of the series.
Bonino, who drew assists on the first two goals, potted his second goal of the series at 8:26 of the middle period. Teed up in the slot by a Calle Jarnkrok pass, Bonino hit a wrister that deflected off Hammond and trickled over the goal line.
Any long-shot hopes of an Avalanche comeback concluded at 2:36 of the third period when Arvidsson scored on a breakaway for his second marker of the series.
Hammond, who made 44 saves Friday night as Colorado took a 2-1 victory in Game 5, wasn’t quite as sharp this game. He finished with 32 stops.

RESULTS
Pittsburgh    8    Philadelphia    5
Nashville    5    Colorado    0