Ducks at Predators
The Nashville Predators are still trying to find their footing under new coach John Hynes as they begin a three-game homestand Thursday against the struggling Anaheim Ducks. Nashville is five points out of wild-card position in the Western Conference and sits behind three teams - Vancouver, Winnipeg and Vegas - who are tied for the top spot after a 4-2 loss to Edmonton on Tuesday gave it six losses in its last nine games and a 2-2-0 mark under Hynes.
"It was a tough loss for sure," Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne told reporters. "I thought it was a big game for both teams. I thought we gave it a good effort at the end and tried to get the game tied up, but it didn't happen." Anaheim has lost four straight after a 4-1 setback at St. Louis on Monday as part of five-game road trip. The Ducks are 5-12-1 in their last 18 games since reaching the NHL's version of .500 (12-12-4) and are last in the Western Conference with only Detroit having a worse record in hockey. "We get discouraged really easily and that's what comes when you're struggling," Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf told the media. "It's been happening in hockey for 200 years. It's the way it works and you have to stay confident in the system that we're doing."
TIME: 8 p.m. ET. TV: Prime Ticket, FS Tennessee
ABOUT THE DUCKS (17-24-5): Getzlaf leads the team with 30 points but hasn't hit the scoresheet in the last three games and 11 of his past 13. Jakob Silfverberg (club-high 15 goals) has missed the last three games with an upper-body injury. Henrique (14 goals) hasn't recorded a point in four contests while Rickard Rakell (11) owns one point - a goal - in his last six games.
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (21-17-7): Filip Forsberg scored his team-high 16th goal of the season - a lacrosse-style effort that impressed Rinne. "It was sick, it was unbelievable,'' Rinne told reporters. "It was one of the nicest goals I've seen live. It's just unbelievable individual skill, and (that) he pulls that out in a game is so impressive." Roman Josi (club bests of 46 points, plus-23 rating) has been blanked in his last two games after recording seven goals and 13 assists during a 12-game point streak.
OVERTIME
1. Nashville C Nick Bonino has 14 goals and is on pace to set a career high and surpass the 22 he scored with Anaheim in 2013-14.
2. The Predators' second-worst penalty-unit is 16-for-28 in their last eight games while the Ducks are 5-for-10 in the past five contests.
3. The clubs have split the first two meetings of the season with Anaheim prevailing 5-4 in a shootout Jan. 5 and Nashville rolling 6-1 on Oct. 22 behind a pair of goals by F Viktor Arvidsson.