Thanks to Joe Sakic's inability to safely operate a snowblower and Paul Stastny's untimely collision with a frozen puck, the Avalanche might have found its next great center.

After playing left wing for the better part of his first four NHL seasons, Wojtek Wolski looks like someone who is ready to emerge from the scrums along the boards and make some noise in the middle.

Wolski, playing his second game as Colorado's top-line center, scored twice Tuesday night and Andrew Raycroft made 22 saves to help the Avalanche escape the Sommet Center with a 2-1 win against the Nashville Predators.

A center for much of his junior career, the 22-year-old Wolski appears ready to make the transition from left wing as the Avalanche tries to find a suitable replacement for Sakic and Stastny.

"I'm happy to get the opportunity," Wolski said. "The fact that they did give me a chance at center is great. I feel very good about it. Hopefully, the success continues. I'd like to develop into a pretty good centerman for my career."

Even when Sakic (bad back, broken fingers) and Stastny (broken right forearm) return, Wolski figures to remain a quarterback in the middle.

"He showed (Tuesday night) that he wants to be at that position and play with those guys (wings Milan Hejduk and Ryan Smyth)," Avalanche coach Tony Granato said. "He basically won the game for us, along with Andrew Raycroft."

For much of the first period, Colorado appeared poised to write its own adaptation of Shepherd Mead's classic book How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

The Predators dominated the puck early and had a 10-1 shot advantage after Ryan Jones scored on a rebound to give Nashville a 1-0 lead 7:30 into the game.

"They had a really good start," Hejduk said. "The first 10 minutes, they were all over us. They were just flying. 'Rayzor' kept us in the game. He made some big saves, and we managed to score a few goals and hang in there."

Hejduk set up Wolski's first goal with a centering pass late in the first period. Streaking through the slot, Wolski beat rookie goalie Pekka Rinne with a one-timer at the 14:25 mark.

" 'Wolie's first goal there was huge, to get a tie after the first," said Raycroft, who won his fifth straight start and improved to 7-1 this season. "If nothing else, it's good for our morale to be able to weather that storm, and then we played solid from there."

Hejduk and Wolski connected again 15:47 into the second period. This time, Wolski took the centering pass and flipped in a backhand shot from just outside the crease.

"Obviously, we needed to replace a centerman, so 'Wolie's one of the options now," Hejduk said. "Sometimes it takes a little time to get used to each other, but it could work. It felt like we had some chemistry."

Regardless of who's at center, the Avalanche has been impossible to beat once it gets a lead after two periods. It is 14-0 when taking a lead into the third.

"The second and third period, we played probably our most solid two periods defensively as we had all year," Granato said. "Obviously, we feel pretty good about the way the game came out and how we played the last two periods."

In snapping a three-game losing streak, the Avalanche matched its goals total from the previous three games combined. Not exactly an offensive onslaught but enough to move back into ninth place in the Western Conference standings.

"We probably should have scored a couple more goals than we did, but we'll take a 2-1 win," Wolski said. "Anyone that doesn't take that is stupid."

Predators coach Barry Trotz found the results tough to take after watching his team throw 23 shots on net and have 46 other shots blocked or go wide of the net.

"This is hockey. Sometimes it's going to happen," Trotz said. "You have to stay mentally strong. (Colorado) didn't have a lot of chances. I have eight scoring chances that they had. I cannot remember 10 years here that the other team had eight scoring chances."

The number of scoring chances were fitting on a night when Colorado's new center of the future enjoyed a breakout game.

Wolski wears No. 8.