The Avalanche home crowd erupted in a chant almost every time Matt Duchene touched the puck in a Game 1 victory over the Predators.

“DUCHENE SUCKS!”

Duchene, nearly five years removed from his blockbuster 2017 trade out of Colorado, took the taunts in stride.

“They’re a passionate fanbase,” Duchene said.

Duchene was Nashville’s lone bright spot Tuesday as the Avs coasted to a 7-2 victory. He cleaned up a rebound on a power-play chance in the second period to finally beat Avalanche goalie Darcy Kuemper. His second score of the night — a transition breakaway goal with 7:34 left in regulation — occurred at the height of Ball Arena’s unison chant to temporarily silence a sellout crowd.

But Duchene does not share animosity with Avalanche fans, despite requesting a trade out of town five years ago. He took the high road when discussing his nine NHL seasons (2009-17) playing in Colorado. Duchene appeared in 586 regular season games for the Avalanche with 428 points (178 goals).



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