Predators beat Avalanche 4-1; Laviolette earns win No. 600

DENVER — Peter Laviolette and his goaltender had a lot in common — both were skillful in the art of deflecting.

In Laviolette’s case, it was too much of the credit after earning victory No. 600 as an NHL coach.

“Tonight was a team win,” the Predators coach said.

On a milestone Monday for Laviolette, goaltender Pekka Rinne stopped a penalty shot in making 35 saves and Nashville knocked off the reeling Colorado Avalanche 4-1.

Laviolette became the 20th coach in NHL history to reach the 600-win milestone and the third this season as he joined John Tortorella and Claude Julien. Laviolette also had stints with the New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes and the Philadelphia Flyers before stepping in with the Predators in 2014-15.

He gave plenty of kudos to his players for the achievement.

“Coming off a couple losses and playing Colorado, a team behind us in the standings, an important win for our guys,” Laviolette said. “I’m just thankful for not only this team but teams previous. It’s been an accumulation of four different teams.

“Fortunate to be in the game and stay in the game — greatest job in the world.”

Nick Bonino and Viktor Arvidsson scored 1:34 apart in the second period, while Roman Josi added another and Ryan Ellis contributed a late empty-netter from deep in his zone. The Predators maintained their mastery of the Avalanche, beating their Central Division rivals for a 12th time over the last 13 regular-season meetings.

Rinne was at a loss to explain the success.

“We seem to match up pretty good against them. At the same time, I have a ton of respect toward that team,” Rinne said. “It’s a very good hockey team.”

Alexander Kerfoot had the lone goal for an Avalanche squad that’s dropped five of seven.

Colorado was coming off a 7-1 win over Los Angeles on Saturday in which the team tied a franchise record with six goals in the second period. The scoring spree didn’t carry over. The Avs haven’t won two straight games since late November.