• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

McLeod, Budaj help Avalanche jolt Predators

Dec 30, 2008 - 5:55 AM By Derek Nagy PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

DENVER (Ticker) -- Cody McLeod scored two goals and Peter Budaj stopped 25 shots as the Colorado Avalanche notched their third consecutive victory with a 5-1 triumph over the Nashville Predators on Monday night.

Rookie Chris Stewart, David Jones and defenseman John-Michael Liles also tallied and Marek Svatos and Wojtek Wolski notched two assists apiece for Colorado, which has won six of its last eight games and is three games over the .500 mark for the first time this season.

McLeod opened the scoring just 8:34 into the first period after a pass from Svatos along the left boards somehow slid past defenseman Greg Zanon and goaltender Pekka Rinne. McLeod collected the puck and knocked it into the net to give Colorado a 1-0 advantage.

Colorado doubled its lead just under three minutes later, when McLeod redirected defenseman Brett Clark's slap shot from the just inside the blue line on the left side. The puck was initially deflected by a diving Nashville player trying to block the shot, but hit his leg and then was redirected in the net by McLeod.

McLeod has a pair of two-goal games this season and has six on the season.

"Lucky bounces, but work hard and you get the bounces," McLeod said. "Just go to the net and you're going to get bounces here and there. Some go in, some don't. But they went in tonight."

Stewart and Jones tallied for the Avalanche in the second as Colorado built a 4-0 lead before Nashville got on the board.

"The younger guys have to step up, including myself," McLeod said. "The young guys scored goals tonight and we just have to keep doing that. It's a 20-man effort and everybody contributed tonight."

Following a four-minute penalty given to Colorado's Darcy Tucker, captain Jason Arnott fired a slap shot from the top of the left circle that hit defenseman Adam Foote's stick and kicked just enough to confuse Budaj as the Predators cut the lead to 4-1. It was Arnott's first goal since December 1 at Buffalo.

"Things just aren't going our way," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "Pucks are going off our guys into the net more than the other team's players. It's just a little bit of unfortunate luck and a slow start and at the same time we have to capitalize on our offensive chances. We had tons of chances."

Liles ended any thought of a Nashville comeback just 48 seconds into the third period when he scored on a 2-on-none breakaway with Ryan Smyth that gave the Avalanche a 5-1 lead.

"It wasn't one of our prettier wins, but sometimes you're fortunate and you get the bounces and that was definitely the case tonight," Liles said.

Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne stopped 16 shots but dropped his second consecutive decision following a 7-1-0 start.

"I felt good, obviously I'm not happy with the result," Rinne said. "It was just one of those nights where it seems like every single chance they got they scored. It's really frustrating."