Rinne, Predators slam door on Ducks
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Pekka Rinne made 35 saves and Roman Josi registered a goal and an assist as the Nashville Predators defeated the Anaheim Ducks 5-3 on Friday night.
Nashville (6-5-2) also received goals from Scott Hartnell, Matt Irwin, Viktor Arvidsson and P.K. Subban in breaking a two-game losing streak.
Antoine Vermette, Hampus Lindholm and Jakob Silfverberg scored goals for Anaheim (6-6-1) and John Gibson stopped 25 Nashville shots.
The Ducks rallied from a three-goal deficit late in the second period but could not find the equalizer. Lindholm's power-play goal, his second goal of the season at 19:45 of the second period, and Silfverberg's second goal of the season at 7:41 of the third period gave the Ducks an opportunity to gain at least a point, but Rinne made 12 saves in the third.
Subban registered an empty-net goal at 19:42 of the third period to clinch the win.
The Predators took a 1-0 lead on Hartnell's fourth goal of the season at 6:26 of the first period. Hartnell deflected a wrist shot by Josi off an odd-man rush past Gibson with Pontus Aberg drawing the secondary assist.
Nashville extended its lead to 2-0 on Josi's fourth goal of the season at 19:12 of the first period. Josi used a screen to fire a snap shot that beat Gibson low to his left side. Colton Sissons and Frederick Gaudreau registered assists.
The Predators increased their lead to 3-0 on Irwin's first goal of the season at 3:05 of the second period. Irwin's wrist shot from the left point through a screen beat a screened Gibson with Yannick Weber and Gaudreau getting assists.
Anaheim cut the margin to 3-1 on Vermette's third goal of the season at 4:24 of the second period. Nick Ritchie gained possession in the offensive zone to set up a cross-ice Ondrej Kase feed to allow Vermette to push the puck past a prone Rinne.
Nashville regained their three-goal lead at 4-1 on a power-play goal by Arvidsson, his fourth of the season at 17:20 of the second period. Arvidsson one-timed feed from Mattias Ekholm for the score with Kevin Fiala earning the secondary assist.
NOTES: Nashville scratched D Anthony Bitetto, RW Miikka Salomaki and D Samuel Girard. ... F Scott Hartnell appeared in his 1,200th NHL game. ... The Predators face the Kings in Los Angeles on Saturday and conclude their four-game road trip in Columbus on Tuesday. ... Anaheim did not dress D Korbinian Holzer, D Jaycob Megna, LW Kalle Kossila and G Reto Berra. ... Ducks D Kevin Bieksa was back in the lineup after missing four games with a hand injury.