Predators 6, Avalanche 2: O'Reilly's Four Points, Four Power-Play Goals

October 25, 2026 - Nashville - Steven Stamkos already had one that needed video. Cale Makar swatted at it on the line. The jumbotron kept showing the puck over it. Bridgestone Arena had 2-0 in the first, and the rest of the night did not give Colorado a way back.

The Nashville Predators beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-2. Nashville is 4-3-4 after two straight losses. Colorado is 6-5-1, three losses in four. Shots were 35-21 Nashville. Attendance was 17,191, per ESPN. Justus Annunen, Jack Drury, Ross Colton, and Daemon Hunt are not seeded on AthX player pages, so those names stay unlinked.

Ryan O'Reilly scored twice on the power play and added two assists. Stamkos had two goals and an assist. Filip Forsberg had a goal and two assists. Roman Josi had three assists. Annunen stopped 19 of 21 for his first win of the season, the Associated Press recap said. Artturi Lehkonen and Devon Toews scored. Scott Wedgewood stopped 29 of 35. Martin Necas had two assists.

A power play that finally had chances

Nashville had one power play in each of its previous three games, the AP recap said. Sunday it had seven. Forsberg opened it at 4:01 of the first. Stamkos blocked Logan O'Connor's clear. Josi fed the slot. Wrist shot. 1-0.

Stamkos made it 2-0 at 10:48. The on-ice call was no goal. Makar looked like he had swept it off the line. Review said it crossed. Stamkos, on NHL.com: he was not confident when he skated back to the bench, and they were all telling him it did not go in. He had already accepted no goal. When they started showing it on the jumbotron, he was like, wait a minute.

O'Reilly made it 3-0 at 6:38 of the second, still on the power play. He corralled Josi's pass with a skate, turned, and lifted a backhand over Wedgewood.

Colton to Drury, then the 5-0 that did not last

Drury and Colton were playing their first game against the club that traded them. Colton found Drury alone on Wedgewood's blocker side at 16:36. Backhand around the glove. 4-0. Drury told NHL.com he was happy for Ross, they came close in Pittsburgh on Saturday, and it was a cool moment to share.

O'Reilly's second power-play goal came 53 seconds later, a wrist shot at 17:29. 5-0. Predators coach Andrew Brunette, on NHL.com: your best players win you the most games, and they won us that game tonight. He called the connection a masterclass of puck strength.

Lehkonen tapped Necas's centering feed at 17:55. 5-1. The NHL recap put him on a seven-game point streak (seven goals, three assists). Toews scored at 2:43 of the third during 4-on-4. 5-2. Stamkos finished it on a 5-on-3 at 10:24, O'Reilly's backhand from behind the net, empty net after Wedgewood had come out. 6-2.

Avalanche coach Jared Bednar told NHL.com they should have been the team with more energy, Nashville on a back-to-back, Colorado waiting. It looked like the opposite. They talked about skating to check and staying out of the box. Both went the other way. The NHL notes said four power-play goals were Nashville's first since Jan. 7, 2012.

AthX Engine on a 4-for-7 that paid the club board

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) scored O'Reilly at 17.00: two goals, two assists, five shots, a block, two power-play bonuses, two penalty minutes. Stamkos is 13.90. Forsberg is 11.30. Josi is 9.40. Lehkonen is 7.50. Annunen's 19-save win is 8.20. Nashville's club line is 23.20, the top team night on a five-game Sunday. Colorado's regulation loss floors at 0.00.

Fantasy points measure the box. Price is what traders will pay for O'Reilly after 17.00, and for an Avalanche club that waited at home and still took six. They move together. They are not the same number.

Track O'Reilly, Stamkos, MacKinnon, and both clubs on the marketplace. The Islanders visit Nashville on Tuesday. New Jersey visits Colorado on Wednesday.

*Sources: NHL.com recap, ESPN recap, ESPN box. AthX Engine fantasy points scored from NHL gamecenter box 2026020183. Information only; not financial advice.*