Predators tie franchise-record winning streak by beating Avalanche, sweeping road trip

DENVER — The Predators are resilience personified.

Their 4-3 overtime victory Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche was their latest in a scintillating run of comebacks.

“Sometimes you have those games once a month or a couple times a month, and now we’ve had four games in a row," Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne said. "For a while now, we’ve been playing with a lot of confidence. This is obviously a big booster again.”

By rallying in each of their four games out West, the Predators stretched their winning streak to eight, matching the longest in franchise history first set in October 2005.

Here are three observations from Sunday's victory:

Mix and match

Throughout the rest of the regular season, Predators coach Peter Laviolette is going to fine-tune his lineup, testing combinations and providing adequate rest to banged-up players.

The goal, Laviolette said, is to make sure that each member of the roster is prepared for playoff duty.

At forward, Mike Fisher and Craig Smith sat out Sunday. Neither is considered injured by the team. Scott Hartnell, among those who didn't play in the Predators' previous game for "maintenance" reasons, returned.

Captain Roman Josi missed his second consecutive game and is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

As the Predators recently have displayed, they're not affected by changes to their lineup. Against Colorado, a possible first-round opponent next month, Nashville played another effective game but trailed in the final 90 seconds.

No problem. Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis ripped the tying goal into the net with 66 seconds left, then forward Filip Forsberg netted the game-winner in overtime, his first goal since Feb. 13.

“We know that we have the tools in this room (to) really come back from any deficit," Ellis said. "It’s not pretty all the time, but as long as we’re collecting those points, that’s the most important thing.

"The biggest thing is belief in each other. No matter the score, no matter the situation, we all trust each other.”

'MacK' attack

The Avalanche are in the thick of the playoff race because of high-scoring forward Nathan MacKinnon, who deserves serious MVP consideration for his lights-out season.

In order to combat MacKinnon. the Predators matched center Ryan Johansen's line against his as much as possible without the benefit of last line change during each stoppage.

MacKinnon had eight shots and an assist on the Avalanche's third-period goal Sunday. His line got the better of Johansen's in terms of puck possession and scoring chances, but the Predators neutralized him enough to win.

Watson stepping up

Moments after barely missing a tap-in by the side of the net in the first period, Predators forward Austin Watson completed an energetic shift by banking a goal off an Avalanche defender.

Watson reached the 10-goal mark this season on the play, the first time in his NHL career he's done so. Half of his goals have been scored in the past 11 games.

Although Watson primarily is deployed in a defensive role, he's developed into a dependable offensive contributor this season as part of a well-rounded fourth line. Watson's ability to influence a game on both ends has made him invaluable.

Reach Adam Vingan at avingan@tennessean.com and on Twitter @AdamVingan.