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NASHVILLE Youth Derek Stepan Jersey , Tenn. (AP) stunned his teammates and the Colorado Avalanche with one dazzling sequence.Forsberg passed the puck to himself through his own legs and rookie defenseman Samuel Girard’s legs on his way to his second goal of the third period, helping Nashville beat Colorado 5-2 on Thursday night in Game 1 of the first-round Western Conference series.”That was unbelievable,” Predators forward Austin Watson said. ”I don’t know if you guys panned over to the bench, but all of our jaws dropped. He thinks of doing things out there that wouldn’t even happen in my dreams.”Pekka Rinne made 25 saves as Nashville put together a strong finish to its playoff opener after winning Presidents’ Trophy for the first time this season. The Predators are hoping to take the next step this year after losing to Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup Final.Colorado was looking for a big win on a stage the franchise hasn’t seen since 2014, and the young Avalanche outplayed the defending Western Conference champs early.Austin Watson had a goal and an assist for Nashville, which has won 11 straight over Colorado. Craig Smith and Colton Sissons also scored, and Ryan Johansen and captain Roman Josi each had two assists.Nikita Zadorov and Blake Comeau scored for Colorado. Jonathan Bernier made 26 stops.Forsberg, who had a team-high 64 points in the regular season, gave Nashville its first lead of the game at 3-2 when he redirected a shot by Josi past Bernier 6:08 into the third. Then Forsberg delivered again with a breathtaking move in the middle of Colorado’s zone with 7:50 left.”It was just one of those that come us up I guess when you skate, and it worked,” Forsberg said.Nashville coach Peter Laviolette was impressed.”What I really liked about it Womens Jason Demers Jersey , it was a power move,” Laviolette said. ”It was not just a standing-still move, like he really picked up speed and did his best to drive. And I always feel like he’s best when he’s a power forward first and then he brings a skill element into it, and that’s exactly what he did on that goal.”Game 2 is Saturday afternoon in Nashville.The series features a team that won 53 games during the regular season and Colorado, which had to win its regular-season finale to squeak into the postseason ahead of St. Louis. The Avalanche came in with only 14 players with playoff experience, and their most seasoned player, Colin Wilson, was on Nashville’s roster a year ago.”I’m happy with the way we played,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. ”I felt like we did enough to almost earn a better result but now we’re going to have to go and dig in even harder to make sure we do earn a better result. We’re capable.”Fans filled the arena more than 30 minutes before the puck dropped, waiting for a pregame video that included a giant curtain that dropped down over the ice for a giant videoboard. Rascal Flatts handled the anthem as the Predators continued their tradition of big stars stepping in for the postseason, and two catfish hit the ice almost as soon as the last note ended.Colorado scored on its first official shot. Rinne didn’t appear to see Zadorov’s wrister Ian Cole Jersey Womens , with the puck going over his glove at 6:36.The Predators were a bit sloppy early.The team that led the NHL in penalties took two late in the first, giving Colorado 19 seconds of a 5-on-3 advantage. Rinne seemed to settle the Predators down with a big save with 20 seconds left in the period, stopping Tyson Jost’s shot from the slot before sticking his right skate to the post with Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog trying to pounce on the puck.In the second, Rinne got help from Matt Irwin clearing J.T. Compher’s shot, and the Predators tied it on a wrist shot from Watson that squeezed over Bernier’s left shoulder at 3:14. The goal was being announced when Comeau got a stick on Carl Soderberg’s shot from the point to give Colorado a 2-1 lead at 4:51.”It shows us we’re right with them,” Colorado defenseman Tyson Barrie said.Rinne came up with his best save with 2:24 left in the second with Mikko Rantanen on a breakaway. The goalie spread out and stuck his right leg out, stopping the puck with his pad.Sissons capped the scoring with an empty-netter with 1:57 left.NOTES: Forsberg had his third career multigoal game in the postseason. He is averaging more than a point-per-game for his career against Colorado. … Nashville had been 12-14-5 after giving up the first goal and 8-10-2 when trailing after the first period in the regular season. But the Preds were 11-1-2 when tied after two periods. … Watson and Smith each had their fifth career goals of the playoffs.UP NEXTGame 2 is Saturday in Nashville.— NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — After a franchise-record 12-game losing streak, the Anaheim Ducks are rolling behind John Gibson and bunch of new faces.Gibson made 29 saves and Troy Terry scored his first NHL goal and set up another Saturday, sending the new-look Ducks past the New Jersey Devils 3-2 for their second straight win after the losing streak.Gibson has been the big difference in the streak that has the Ducks in the playoff hunt again. He blanked Minnesota on Thursday night and was outstanding sending New Jersey to its third straight loss.“He’s huge to this team,” Ducks center Adam Henrique said. “We’ve known that and everybody knows that; it’s no secret. He’s one of Philipp Grubauer Jersey Womens , if not the best goalie in the league. There have been a lot of moments this year where we really haven’t helped him out and he absolutely stood on his head and made huge saves just to keep us in games and give us an opportunity.”While Gibson held the Devils at bay, the Ducks made the most of their 14 shots at Devils rookie goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood.Daniel Sprong also had a goal and an assist and Derek Grant, playing in his second game with the Ducks after being acquired Wednesday, got the insurance goal early in the third period. Grant scored on a setup by Terry, who was recalled from the minors Wednesday.The Ducks made four trades in a three-day span leading to their shutout over Minnesota. Gibson was in goal for that one, and his only blemishes against New Jersey came when Marcus Johansson scored in close 6:50 after the opening faceoff and Jesper Bratt struck with 56 seconds to play.“You don’t want to win one and then go back to losing so I think this was as big a win as the game was in Minnesota,” Gibson said. “Maybe it wasn’t as pretty as the game in Minnesota, but we’ll take the two points. Take the win and move on to the next one.”Sprong and Terry scored 1:28 apart to give Anaheim the lead for good midway through the first period.The difference though was Gibson, who came into the game leading the NHL in saves. He stopped 14 in the second period.It started early with a save on defenseman Damon Severson coming late on a rush and included power-play stops in close against Pavel Zacha, Kyle Palmieri, Brian Boyle and Bratt and two blasts by former Anaheim defenseman Sami Vatanen.“Maybe we deserved a little better Womens Niklas Hjalmarsson Jersey ,” Palmieri said. “It’s a tough league to win in. I think their goalie did a good job of making the first stop. They did a good job of clearing the rebounds. We didn’t get a ton of looks or it was us getting pushed out of those areas. We were competing and we were following pucks at the net and testing him as much as we could, but we couldn’t find a way to get it through him.”Sprong tied it at 9:10, putting in a rebound of a Nick Ritchie deflection.Terry, who started the season with the Ducks before being sent to San Diego of the AHL, got his firstgoal on a power play. He took a pass from defenseman Hampus Lindholm in the right circle and ripped a shot past Blackwood, who was screened by Devin Shore, who was acquired from Dallas on Monday.“I didn’t really see what happened,” Terry said. “I shot it and said that felt pretty good and wasn’t really sure and saw people start to skate toward me, and I was like finally it happened.”Grant scored his goal at 5:11 of the third period, shortly after Gibson stopped Nico Hischier on a shot from below the left circle.NOTES: Palmieri was added to the All-Star roster. He replaces Devils teammate Taylor Hall on the Metropolitan Division roster. … F Justin Kloos made his Ducks’ debut. He was acquired from Minnesota Wednesday. … Anaheim placed RW Ondrej Kase on IR before the game and called up F Sam Carrick from minors. He was a healthy scratch. … Devils placed F Miles Wood on IR and called up Fs Nathan Bastian and Kurtis Gabriel from AHL. Bastian made his NHL debut and also got into his first fight with Ducks D Josh Manson. … Ducks F Carter Rowney played in his 100th NHL game.UP NEXTDucks: At the New York Islanders on Sunday.Devils: Off until Jan. 28 when they return from the All-Star break at Pittsburgh.