VIDEO: Ducks Double Up Predators

Photo: AP

By Richard Gonzalez

The Anaheim Ducks took on the Nashville Predators in a first of two back-to-back road games. The Ducks were coming off a 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues and the Predators were also coming off a loss when the Edmonton Oilers beat them 4-2.

The Ducks would get Derek Grant back off the IR and Jakob Silfverberg returned from injury and Chase De Leo made his season debut. Isac Lundestrom and Max Comtois were reassigned to San Diego. John Gibson and Juuse Saros would each get the start for their respective teams.

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Gibson would have a bit of luck in the opening frame of the first period when the puck hit the crossbar in what looked like a for sure goal. The Ducks would then go on to score the game’s first goal nearly halfway in the first when Josh Manson wrist shot the puck past Saros. That would be Manson’s first goal this season.

The Predators got the game’s first penalty after a trip was called on Dante Fabbro. The Ducks would get another lucky break when Saros thought he covered the puck but it was loose behind him and Adam Henrique would score on the power play. The Predators would get one back when Viktor Arvidsson scored on a deflection. The Ducks would hold on to a 2-1 lead at the end of the first.

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The Ducks would take their first penalty as Nicolas Deslauriers was called for holding. This was Deslauriers’s first minor penalty he has taken all season and the Ducks were able to kill it off. Later in the period, the Ducks would extend their lead when a perfect rebound came in front of Rickard Rakell and he was able to score on an empty net. Anaheim had a 3-1 lead heading into the third period.

The third period slowed down a lot but the Ducks were not done scoring. While shorthanded, Grant was sent out on a breakaway and slide the puck in five-hole past Saros to give the Ducks a three-goal lead. The Predators would score a short-handed goal of their own when Mikael Granlund would score. In a last-ditch effort, the Predators pulled their goalie but they could not get one past Gibson and the Ducks would take the win.

Analysis:

The Ducks played a good game. They controlled the game and had the Predators chasing them most of the night. Gibson made some big saves to keep the Duck in this one. The Ducks also got a power play goal for the first time in a while. Grant’s goal seemed to take the crowd completely out of the game, which most of them left early. The Ducks played a relaxed game and did a great job in puck possession. Hopefully, the Ducks could bring this momentum against the Carolina Hurricanes and get their first consecutive wins in 2020 and first since November.

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January 16th, 2020