NHL Update: Nashville Predators 4-1 win against Anaheim Ducks
Patric Hornqvist and Sergei Kostitsyn both scored a goal and one assist each in carrying the Nashville Predators to a 4-1 win over Anaheim Ducks at Honda Centre on Wednesday night.
Jerred Smithson and Shea Weber also lit the lamp for Nashville, which has won three consecutive games, all by the same 4-1 score, on the heels of a five-game slide. Pekka Rinne made 40 saves in the victory.
"We are playing a good team game which is the biggest thing," Smithson said. "For the most part we are playing hard defensively. We have a little work to do in our own zone. We're not going to score a lot of goals -- that is just how our team is made up.
We have to be solid in our zone to win games."
Saku Koivu had a goal in the third period for Anaheim, which was struggling for their fifth consecutive home victory. Jonas Hiller stopped 20 shots in the loss.
“We just didn’t have it tonight,” said Koivu, “We worked, but we just weren’t hungry enough and desperate enough to get into the areas where we could get those loose pucks and rebounds. There were a lot of shots and we created a lot of cycles, but we weren’t
able to create a lot of quality chances.”
Smithson staked Nashville on the board first for a 1-0 lead at 5:10 of the first period. He charged in from the left corner during a scramble and tried to push the loose puck past Hiller. The call on the ice was no goal, but a video review showed the puck
sliding past Ducks' goalie.
Predators struck again for a 2-0 advantage in the beginning of second period as Ducks' defensive mix-up left Kostitsyn unchecked in the faceoff circle. Kostitsyn took a return feed from Ryan Suter and fired a shot that deflected in off Hornqvist's skate.
"We fired a lot of blanks. It just seemed like the puck was doing funny things for us," said Ducks' head coach Randy Carlyle.
Ducks struck on the board with 8:14 remaining in the third period on Koivu’s 11th goal of the season. Anaheim won the battle for possession along the boards and Dan Sexton sent a sharp pass to Koivu who ended up flicking a shot over the left shoulder
of Nashville net minder.
“We played really well defensively, which is great to see at the start of a road trip,” Rinne said. “We know it’s going to be a really tough road trip out here, but we stuck together defensively. They got a lot of shots, but we didn’t give them so many good
chances. We just have a strong defensive core. That’s our backbone.”
With 3:47 remaining, Predators' goaltender was called for tripping but Ducks could not convert on the power play. Kostitsyn and Weber both then scored empty-net goals inside the final minute and sealed the win for Nashville.
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