Anaheim Ducks edge past Nashville Predators, 6-3: NHL Play-off Recap
Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Brandon McMillan all lit the lamp in the final session to lift the Anaheim Ducks to a 6-3 victory against the Nashville Predators, in Game 4 of this Western Conference quarter-final series, at the Bridgestone Arena on
Wednesday night.
Cam Fowler, Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne each also hit the net for Anaheim, which rebounded from a one-goal loss on Sunday. Ray Emery finished with 19 saves in the victory.
Joel Ward and Matt Halischuk both found the back of the net for Nashville, which blew an opportunity for it’s first-ever 3-1 series lead. Patric Hornqvist added that another goal and Pekka Rinne was beaten for all six goals on 29 shots. He was pulled
late in the third period and replaced by Anders Lindback, who made nine saves rest of the play.
The Ducks attacked on Rinne early in the game, striking twice in a 33-second span. The first goal of the game came on a power-play at 4:41 mark of the first period, when Fowler ripped a slap shot from the left-point for his postseason goal. Then, Koivu
converted a Jason Blake rebound to give Ducks two-goal edge, 2-0, just 33 seconds later.
Hornqvist quickly cut the Predators’ deficit in half, 2-1, just 31 seconds later, when he deflected home a Sergei Kostitsyn’s pass.
Ward knotted the game at 2-2 on a power-play just less than six minutes into the middle period, and then he drew a double minor for high-sticking Blake at the net, providing Anaheim a 4-minute power-play. Selanne took the advantage and potted a goal
for 3-2 with more than eight minutes left.
Unbowed, Halischuk pulled an equalizer, 3-3, for the last time for Predators with less than six minutes remaining in the second period. He took advantage of a turnover by Sbisa and stuffed the puck home with a backdoor tap.
Perry then ignited a three-goal final session by scoring a goal for 4-3 lead just 1:17 into the period. It happened so when McMillan snatched the puck away from a Nashville defender, and started a rush to bring the puck down the right side until reached
the circle. He then passed it back to a trailing Perry, who skated into the high slot and fired a backhander past Rinne.
"When Mac got the puck I just tried to make it a 2-on-2," Perry said. "He created space by dropping it and going through the middle to the net. He made a great screen and the puck went right in."
Getzlaf extended the lead to 5-3 about five minutes in, on a delayed penalty call, blasting a wrist shot under the crossbar from the left circle.
McMillan then accounted for the final scoring, 6-3, about two minutes later, when he get rid of a defender and beat Rinne low to the far post.
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