NASHVILLE San Jose Sharks T-Shirts Authentic , Tenn. (AP) Nashville forward Filip Forsberg 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 San Jose Sharks Hoodies Authentic , and it worked,” Forsberg said.Nashville coach Peter Laviolette was impressed.”What I really liked about it, 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 San Jose Sharks Hats Authentic , 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, 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 Custom San Jose Sharks Jerseys ,” 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.— ST. LOUIS (AP) Three days after missing the playoffs, the St. Louis Blues learned their star forward Vladimir Tarasenko will need surgery on Wednesday for a dislocated left shoulder.Tarasenko was hurt in the first period of the regular-season finale on Saturday in Colorado. The Blues needed a point in the game to reach the playoffs, but lost 5-2.Tarasenko revealed he had a dislocated shoulder while standing with his left arm in a sling Tuesday as teammates cleared out their lockers. The recovery after surgery can take up to six months.”We’ll see how it goes,” Tarasenko said. ”It was a hard year all the way around.”The 26-year-old led the team with 33 goals and 66 points. It was his lowest point total in four seasons. The Blues won 44 games this season and finished with 94 points.Mike Yeo wrapped up his first full season as the Blues coach. St. Louis is 66-40-8 since Yeo replaced Ken Hitchcock as coach on Feb. 1, 2017. That’s the 10th-best regular-season record in the NHL in that period.But it’s little consolation for a team missing the playoffs for the first time after six straight seasons. Two years ago, the Blues were playing for the conference championship.”We understand we’ve taken a step back this year,” General Manager Doug Armstrong said. ”That lies firmly on my shoulders. My job is to deal in reality. The formula we had this year did not breed success and we need to find that formula.”Armstrong said the play of special teams needs to improve.The Blues were 30th on power-play success at 15.4 percent. They finished 18th in penalty killing at 79.7 percent. During the previous six seasons making the playoffs, the Blues ranked No. 1 in the NHL in penalty killing with a rate of 84.3 percent.However www.officialblues.com , the Blues scored only 38 power-play goals.”As a coaching staff, I promise you we won’t just sit around and just assume things will get better next year,” Yeo said. ”We have to look at everything from the way we manage it, operate it and holding guys accountable and the personnel we’re using and the tactics.”When Yeo coached the Minnesota Wild, the power play also was stagnant.”I’ll take responsibility for it,” Yeo said. ”I don’t dodge that. That’s on me.”Armstrong backs his coach.”Mike and I are tethered together and we’re going to figure this thing out,” Armstrong said.St. Louis was just 24-17 on home ice this season.”You can’t have the home record we had and be satisfied,” Armstrong said. ”The people that come here work for a living and we need to send them home happy. If we’re in the top 10 in home records, we’re in the playoffs.”The salary cap should increase about $4 million for next season. Armstrong said the Blues ownership will continue to spend to the cap.”We spend to the cap St. Louis Blues T-Shirts Authentic ,” Armstrong said. ”We’ve had a good run here. We’ve got to get back to that.”Goalie Jake Allen was signed to a four-year, $17.4 million contract on July 1, 2016. He finished with a 27-25-3 record, a 2.75 goals-against average, a .906 save percentage and one shutout.”I definitely need to be more consistent,” Allen said. ”I know I’m capable of it. I don’t think I need to change much. I’m a pretty good goalie.”Backup goaltender Carter Hutton is an unrestricted free agent. Hutton was 17-7-3 with a 2.09 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage. He had three shutouts.Armstrong said he wants to bring Hutton back.