DENVER -- Right winger Jarome Iginla and center Ryan O'Reilly scored nine seconds apart, center Joey Hishon got his first NHL goal and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 on Tuesday night.

Defenseman Ryan Ellis and center Calle Jarnkrok had goals and goalie Pekka Rinne had 20 saves for the Predators, who lost their fourth straight.

Nashville missed a chance to move ahead of St. Louis in the battle for the Central Division title. The Blues lost to Winnipeg at home Tuesday night and maintain a one-point lead on Nashville with two games remaining.

Nashville (47-23-10) currently holds the tiebreaker on St. Louis.

Goaltender Semyon Varlamov made 40 saves for Colorado (37-31-12), which is winding down a disappointing season a year after surprising everyone by winning the Central Division with 112 points.

Nashville had the first nine shots on goal and swarmed around Varlamov and outshot the Avalanche 14-5 in the first period.

Even though the Predators controlled the play for most of the first they only led 1-0 heading into the second. They took the lead when Jarnkrok, on a nice feed from Cullen down low, beat Varlamov with a shot off the inside of the right post at 5:02 of the period. It was his seventh on the season.

The Avalanche tied it late in the second when Iginla beat Rinne with a shot over the goalie's left shoulder at 15:32. It was his team-leading 27th of the season and got him closer to the 30-goal plateau, which he has reached 12 times in his career.

O'Reilly made it 2-1 with his 17th goal just nine seconds after Iginla tied it.

Ellis tied it with his ninth goal just 1:20 into the third, and the Predators appeared to take the lead 18 seconds later but the goal was waved off.

That proved pivotal when Hishon's wrister beat Rinne at 7:06 of the third to give Colorado a 3-2 lead.

Rinne came off for an extra skater with 1:35 left but Nashville couldn't get the equalizer.

NOTES: Avalanche D Erik Johnson will likely not play for the rest of the season. Johnson, the team's lone All-Star, had minor knee surgery on Jan. 21 with an initial recovery time of 3-8 weeks. However, he hasn't played since, and the Avalanche will probably avoid using him in the last two games. ... Nashville C Paul Gaustad returned to the lineup after missing one game with an upper-body injury. ... Colorado RW Daniel Briere missed his eighth straight game with a foot injury suffered March 23. ... Predators D Ryan Ellis played in his 200th career game Tuesday.