Ducks Squeak By The Predators

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks hosted the Nashville Predators. Lukas Dostal was in net against Juuse Saros.

Recap:

There was no scoring in the first period. The Ducks had two power play chances, but didn’t convert on either one.

The Ducks got on the board first with about four minutes left to go in the second period. Troy Terry roofed a shot from the left circle over Saros’ shoulder for the goal. Anaheim led 1-0 after two periods.

The Predators tied things up early in the third period. Jakub Vrana scored on the power play just over four minutes into the final frame.

The Ducks then got into penalty trouble when Radko Gudas was called for tripping and then Brett Leason was called for high-sticking 50 seconds later. The Predators had a 5-on-3 power play for one minute and ten seconds, but couldn’t convert.

Just over halfway through the period the Ducks reclaimed the lead. Trevor Zegras did a behind the back pass to Alex Killorn in the slot and he scored to give Anaheim a 2-1 lead.

Nashville pulled their goalie in the final minutes, but couldn’t get the tying score. The Ducks won 2-1.

Analysis:

This game was very uneventful in the first half and then things picked up once Terry scored in the second period. Anaheim only scored twice, but it’s all they needed with the outstanding play of Dostal in net. Nashville put up 29 shots to just 15 for Anaheim. Dostal stole this game for the Ducks, who are clinging on to their playoff hopes.

This was a very rough game for the Ducks in terms of even strength play. Anaheim was only able to put up a CF% of 40.43% and FF% of 44.78%. Nashville had 56 shots attempts to 38 for Anaheim during even strength play. The Predators only scored once and it was while on the power play. They went one-for-three with the man advantage. Anaheim came up big stopping them in the third when they had a 5-on-3 power play for over a minute. The Ducks didn’t score with their two chances.

The Ducks have a big game against St. Louis this Sunday and they need a regulation win to still have any hopes of making the playoffs. Anaheim can’t afford to play another game like this especially against the teams ahead of them.

Team Notes/Stats:

The Ducks are six points behind Calgary and Vancouver for the final wild card spot. Both those teams do have a game in hand.

The Ducks set a team record being able to win with only 15 shots on net. The NHL record of a team winning with the lowest shots on net is Toronto and San Jose, both with only 9 shots on goal. Toronto beat St. Louis 4-0 in 1999 and San Jose beat Dallas 4-0 in 1998.

Leo Carlsson matched the longest assist streak (4 games) by a Ducks player 20 and younger.

Nikita Nesterenko was recalled before the game and played with Ross Johnston and Sam Colangelo out due to upper-body injuries.

Ville Husso was the backup as John Gibson is still out with some type of nagging injury.

What’s Next?

The Ducks visit the Blues Sunday at 3PM.

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March 15th, 2025