The Nashville Predators lost an embarrassing Game 1 to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night, with the final score 7-2. Matt Duchene scored both goals—one of them while the road arena was chanting “Duchene sucks”—and that was about all the Preds had going for them. Matt Benning was the Preds’ second-best player in transition and playmaking (as well as making some other, different plays that should have gotten him a phone call).
It was, all around, not a good game.
Now the Preds get to do it again, and this time they need to show that they belong in the same building as the Avalanche.