The Nashville Predators knew they were in trouble when they found out their first-round matchup would be the Colorado Avalanche, especially without their best player, goaltender Jussi Saros.
The Avalanche dominated the Predators for the first three games, beating them 7-2, 2-1(OT), and 7-3. Avalanche forward Andrei Burakovsky got his team off and running right away, just 1:56 into game four, with one of the strangest goals scored all season long.
Burakovsky's hard wrister from the bottom of the circle appeared to hit the side of the net, at least that's what everyone in the arena thought, even the announcers. Burakovsky and his teammates were the only ones who first thought that it in fact was a goal.
Upon further review, it was indeed deemed a good goal as the netting actually ripped, and the puck went right through it. Definitely, one of the weirder goals you'll see for a while!
The Colorado Avalanche would eventually defeat the Nashville Predators by a score of 5-3 in game four to complete the sweep and become the first team in the Stanley Cup Playoffs to advance to the second round. They will face the winner of the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild series, which is currently all squared up at 2-2.
