Matt Duchene, Predators visit Avalanche

11/26/2021; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators center Matt Duchene (95) is called to a hooking penalty against New Jersey Devils defender Ryan Graves (33) in the first third at Bridgestone Arena. Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

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2021-11-27 17:43:07 GMT + 00: 00 – When Matt Duchene was about to leave Colorado, he didn’t hide his desire to be relocated.

At the start of the 2018 training camp, he was open about not wanting to be with Avalanche, the team that voted him third overall in the 2009 NHL draft.

Duchene received his request and was sent to Ottawa two months later in a three-team deal that included the Nashville Predators. He is now in his third season at Nashville and leads the team in goals (12) and points (21) ahead of a date with the Avalanche in Denver on Saturday.

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Both teams were in action on Friday evening. The Predators drew a 4-2 win over the New Jersey Devils, while the Avalanche lost a 3-1 win over the Dallas Stars.

Duchene was 18 years old when he was drafted and he made an immediate impression on Colorado. He has probably the best start of his career this season with Nashville.

He has already doubled his number of goals from 34 games last season and seems to be more comfortable in the Predators offense.

“There just seems to be more instinct,” said Nashville coach John Hynes. “Now that he’s in the points it’s just more natural, where last year I felt like sometimes it was too much thought or a little slow or one stickhandle too much. Now the decision-making is stronger, but I think , that comes with “Confidence in your game.”

Duchene said the quick start to the season won’t satisfy him.

“When things go well, it makes me more hungry than complacent, especially as I’ve gotten older,” he said. “When you’re younger, you’re just relieved, and when you get older, you just want to continue building on that, so here I am.”

Colorado has four players and three draft picks in the deal, and two of those are still on the team. Samuel Girard was from Nashville and is a top 4 defender. One of the draft picks, the Senator-provided No. 4 overall pick in 2019, became Bo Byram.

Byram is just a rookie, but when he’s healthy he’s a top 4 defender too. The problem right now is Byram’s head injury, which has knocked him out in the last six games. The good news for Colorado is that Byram and Nathan MacKinnon will join the team on their upcoming road trip starting Wednesday.

Ahead of that five-game swing through the Eastern Conference, the Avalanche will be looking to recover from the Dallas Friday night loss that ended their six-game winning streak. Colorado averaged six goals per game during the streak before it was closed by the stars.

The winning streak helped shift momentum after a slow start to the season.

“As a team, we have recognized that this is a good time to start the next week before there is a big road trip next week,” said captain Gabriel Landeskog. “Realizing that it’s important for us to move up in the overall standings. We didn’t have a great first month of the season, but at the same time we had a lot of new guys, a lot of new faces that are getting used to the system.”

–Field-level media

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