PREDATORS 6, AVALANCHE 1: Patric Hornqvist scored his team-leading 27th goal on a highlight-reel tip-in as visiting Nashville tuned up for the postseason with its ninth straight victory over Colorado.

Nashville clinched the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference earlier Saturday when Detroit lost 3-2 in a shootout to Chicago and will host the Red Wings in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

David Legwand, Craig Smith, Roman Josi, former Avalanche forward Brandon Yip and Matt Halischuk also scored for Nashville.

Matt Duchene scored for the Avalanche, who have missed the playoffs two straight seasons for the first time since the franchise moved from Quebec in 1995.

Hornqvist’s goal came with less than one second left in the first period when he deflected Kevin Klein’s shot at shoulder height with the back side of his stick 25 feet from the net to make it 3-1.

Nashville’s Anders Lindback made 34 saves before leaving with 17:46 remaining after defenseman Ryan Ellis fell on his head as he lay in the crease. Pekka Rinne relieved and tied Anaheim’s Jonas Hiller for the NHL lead with 73 games played.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Predators improved to a West-best 35-3-4 when scoring first. … Among the regulars who did not dress were Martin Erat, who leads Nashville with 58 points, and Mike Fisher, second on the team with 24 goals. … Colorado was the third-most improved team over last season with a 20-point improvement. St. Louis and Florida were plus-22. ... Nashville was 3-3-0 against Detroit, with each team winning once on the road.