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Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche leaned on their speed to get off to another flying start.

 

This time Jim McMahon Jersey , it held up.

MacKinnon scored twice, including one as part of a three-goal first period and another to chase Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne from the game, and the Avalanche beat the Predators 5-3 in Game 3 on Monday night to pull to 2-1 in the first-round series.

Blake Comeau and Gabriel Bourque also scored in a furious opening period that revved up a pom-pom waving capacity crowd. Gabriel Landeskog was credited with an empty-net goal for the Avalanche, who snapped a 12-game skid against the Predators.

”Our guys were energized,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. ”We were on our toes and the aggressors early in that game and it paid off for us.”

Game 4 is Wednesday in Denver.

For a third straight game in the series, Colorado scored first. But the Avs were able to make it stand in this one. MacKinnon and his teammates have been a different bunch at home this year. Their 28 home wins in the regular season was tied for the most in franchise history with the 2000-01 squad that hoisted the Stanley Cup.

”They gained a lot of momentum, used their atmosphere to their advantage and we weren’t able to respond in that first period,” Predators forward Ryan Johansen said. ”That can’t happen.”

MacKinnon’s goal at 4:25 of the second period gave Colorado a 4-0 lead and prompted the Predators to pull Rinne in favor of backup Juuse Saros . Rinne allowed four goals on 15 shots.

”We weren’t very good in front of him,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. ”I didn’t think we were giving him the support he needed.”

Laviolette wasn’t in a mood to elaborate on what exactly went wrong.

”It wasn’t good Eddie Jackson Jersey ,” Laviolette said of the first period.

Any particular reason?

”We didn’t play very well,” he said.

One thing was clear: MacKinnon was as fast as ever on home ice. He led the league in home scoring in the regular season with 67 points.

”He thrives on the energy in the building,” Bednar said. ”He’s just so explosive at home. He’s dangerous every time he touches the puck at home.”

Jonathan Bernier stopped 29 shots on a night when the Avalanche finished 0 for 5 on the power play. Johansen had a second-period goal and Colton Sissons scored another in the third to make it 4-2. Saros was pulled for an extra skater with around 2:20 left and, moments later, Landeskog was credited with a goal after being dragged down on a breakaway. A sliding Landeskog was trying to get the puck over to MacKinnon for the hat trick.

It’s about the only thing that didn’t work out for Colorado.

”We proved to ourselves that we can get a win,” MacKinnon said. ”Hopefully it just snowballs from here.”

Nashville got on the board midway through the second after Colorado was whistled for two penalties on a play, giving the Predators a 5-on-3 advantage. Johansen knocked in a rebound to make it 4-1, but Colorado quelled the other portion of the power play.

Late in the second, P.K. Subban and MacKinnon got tangled up near the corner. It led to some pushing and shoving with both getting holding penalties.

Simply playoff hockey.

”Anytime you play the same team over and over and over again you start to really dislike each other Nathan Peterman Jersey ,” said Austin Watson, who added a late goal. ”It’s good battles, good intensity out there and it’s fun hockey.”

It didn’t take long for Colorado to get on the board with Comeau scoring 1:50 into the game and on the team’s second shot. The Avs beat Rinne on their opening shot in each of the first two games.

Shortly after Bourque tipped in Patrik Nemeth’s shot, MacKinnon scored with 1:53 remaining in the first when he took a pass from Landeskog, used a burst of speed to get free and beat Rinne with a wrist shot.

The last time the Avalanche played at the Pepsi Center it was also desperation time. They beat St. Louis in a winner-gets-into-the-playoffs season finale.

NOTES: Nashville LW Viktor Arvidsson nearly had a goal in the first when he and the puck crashed into Bernier at the same time. The puck slid in, but the officials waved it off due to goaltender interference. … F Filip Forsberg had an assist on Johansen’s goal to become the Predators’ all-time postseason points leader (29). … A Nashville fan threw a catfish onto the ice. … Avs D Samuel Girard missed a second straight game with an upper-body injury. … D Nikita Zadorov celebrated his 23rd birthday. … Broncos LB Von Miller showed up wearing a No. 58 Avalanche jersey.

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Ex-player Joel Wilkinson has accused the Australian Football League of racism and said he plans to lodge a claim with the Australian Human Rights Commission.

Wilkinson, who was born in Sydney and is of Nigerian descent, played 26 matches in the top-flight national league for the Gold Coast Suns from 2011 to 2013.

"I'm here because I won't be silenced anymore and what has happened has been a continuous breach of human rights," Wilkinson said while reading from a statement on Thursday. "I have suffered extreme racism during my time in the AFL and post my career."

Wilkinson Tavon Austin Jersey , who had unsuccessful tryouts at cornerback with the NFL's Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants, said he was racially abused by an opposing player during his first AFL game for Gold Coast in 2011.

The following year, he said was racially abused by a supporter of the Collingwood club during a match in Melbourne.

He didn't get another contract after leaving the Suns after the 2013 season, although he did feature in a "Making A Stand" video produced by the AFL's media department in 2014 where he discussed the devastating impact racism had on his career. The video was part of the AFL's 2014 club education program, which the league said was designed "to promote safe, welcoming and inclusive environments for everyone involved in football."

Other players, including Sydney Swans star Adam Goodes, who has Aboriginal heritage and has won an Australian of the Year honor for his work against racism, have been the target of a racist slurs while playing in the top level of the league.

Wilkinson's lawyer Will Barsby said two other former players had made contact following Wilkinson's recent accusations against the league Tress Way Jersey , but didn't identify the players and said it was unclear whether the two also wanted to take legal action.

Barsby said Wilkinson lost his place at the Suns because he became too much trouble.

"He was labelled as a grandstander ... Joel experienced much racism during his time (in the AFL) and that has been documented publicly," Barsby said. "That became a problem and like any workplace, sometimes an employer doesn't want to keep that perceived problem child around."

The AFL issued a statement saying it respected "a person's right to pursue claims through the legal system", while noting it was sorry Wilkinson had been racially abused during his time as a footballer.

"We will continue to work with Joel to resolve this matter," the AFL statement said.

Australian rules was developed in the late 1850s and has similarities to Ireland's Gaelic football, but uses an oval-shaped ball and teams comprising 18 players score points by kicking the ball between four upright posts at each end of the field.

The Victorian Football League was formed in 1896 and eventually became the Australian Football League when the competition expanded across the country. It remains the only professional Australians Rules league in the world.

Wilkinson had a background in track and field before taking up Aussie rules later in high school. He was a member of the Suns squad when the club first joined the AFL in 2011.

 

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