Predators at Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks look to avoid falling into a deep early hole again when they host the Nashville Predators on Sunday night in Game 2 of their Western Conference final. Nashville won the first two games in Anaheim a year ago en route to a seven-game series victory over the Ducks in the first round of the playoffs.
The eighth-seeded Predators stole home ice from Anaheim by squeezing out a 3-2 overtime victory in Game 1 on a goal by James Neal to win their third consecutive series opener on the road and improve to 9-2 in the postseason. "You get some momentum right away, for sure," said Nashville defenseman Mattias Ekholm, who collected a pair of assists. "But we know we haven't done nothing yet. We have to stay on for Game 2, and we know now we'll have that home-ice advantage again. We're really comfortable on home ice and on the road, and it's a good feeling to get the first one." The Ducks dispatched Edmonton in a decisive Game 7 on Wednesday night and the short turnaround showed against well-rested Nashville, which dominated play and poured 46 shots on goal. “I don’t think that we can afford to have the start that we had today,” Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle told reporters of what he termed was a "pretty inept" opening 20 minutes Friday. “We’ll turn the page on this one. Get ourselves prepared for Sunday afternoon.”
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET; NBC Sports Network, Sportsnet, TVAS
ABOUT THE PREDATORS: Neal scored 23 goals during the regular season, matching the second-lowest total of his career for a non-strike season, but he has come alive in the playoffs with four tallies in the last six games after managing one assist in a first-round sweep of Chicago. "I feel like he got a lot of chances, even in the first round, and he's a goal-scorer," Predators defenseman Roman Josi said of Neal. "You know he's going to find the back of the net. He's got a great shot. I think he's been awesome for us." Top-line center Ryan Johansen had two assists in the series opener and boasts two goals and 11 points in 11 playoff games.
ABOUT THE DUCKS: John Gibson was in net for the opening two games against Nashville last year - ironically, both 3-2 setbacks - and never saw the ice again in the series, but no one faulted his performance Friday after he stood on his head while turning aside 43 shots. "Our goaltender should get full credit for keeping us in the game," Carlyle said of Gibson, who was victimized by a deflected shot on the game-winning tally. Forward Jakob Silfverberg, who scored 23 times during the regular season, led Anaheim with five shots on net and notched his eighth goal of the postseason to tie captain Ryan Getzlaf for the team lead.
OVERTIME
1. Anaheim is mired in a six-game power-play drought, failing on all 20 chances, including 0-for-4 in the series opener.
2. Nashville G Pekka Rinne has yielded 16 goals during the first 11 games of the playoffs and owns a staggering .950 save percentage.
3. Silfverberg has 35 points in his last 35 postseason games, including five assists versus Nashville in last season's playoffs.