Predators 5, Ducks 4
Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Sergei Kostitsyn scored two goals, both in the first period, as the Nashville Predators beat the Anaheim Ducks 5-4 on Thursday night.

Nick Spaling, Jordin Tootoo and David Legwand also scored for Nashville, which has won five straight games. Tootoo and Spaling each added an assist.

Teemu Selanne scored two power-play goals, and Corey Perry also had two goals for Anaheim, which had its four-game winning streak stopped.

With 1:40 left in the second period, Tootoo took a shot in the slot that bounced off the leg pads of Dan Ellis and into the net to give the Predators a 4-1 lead.

The Predators stretched the lead to 5-1 in the third period as Legwand scored a short-handed goal that bounced off the far post and in at 9:29.

Anaheim scored 10 seconds later on the power play as Selanne skated in and shot the puck just under the cross bar. At 15:24, Selanne struck again on the power play as the puck bounced off the stick of Nashville's Ryan Suter and into the net.

Perry was credited with his 42nd goal with 27 seconds left as the puck bounced off the skate of Suter and went in under the crossbar.

Instant Analysis
Pekka Rinne was spectacular in tonight’s game. The four goals against are not even close to an indicator of how well he played. The 34 saves were much more in line with his actual performance.

The Ducks scored two five-on-three goals – including one off a deflection of a Preds defenseman’s stick – and a six-on-five extra attacker goal when Ryan Suter tried to kick a floating puck and accidentally put it under the crossbar of his own net.

Rinne robbed Corey Perry 11 seconds into the game. He then made an acrobatic thievery of Teemu Selanne with 2:15 left in the first period to deny a Ducks power-play attempt and keep the Preds up 3-1 heading into the first intermission. Middle of the third period he stoned Andreas Lilja on a breakaway coming out of the penalty box. Rinne then made 15 more saves in the third period.

Rinne has been nearly unbeatable in five-on-five situations in his last four starts – all wins – stopping 92-of-96 shots (.953 save percentage) during five-on-five action. At one point – from the third period of the Boston game through the first period tonight – Rinne turned aside 65 consecutive even-strength shots.
--Jay Levin, NashvillePredators.com

For the second game in a row, the Predators opened the scoring. At 2:04 of the first period Patric Hornqvist took a shot from the left side of the net. The puck bounced off Anaheim goalie Jonas Hiller and bounced around in front of the goal. Kostitsyn tapped it into the open side of the net as Hiller was slow to recover after stopping Hornqvist's shot.

Spaling gave the Predators a 2-0 lead at the 11:18 mark. Jonathon Blum took a shot that went wide to the left of the net and bounced off the back wall. Spaling skated in from the left side and shot the puck under Hiller's outstretched leg pad from close range.

Kostitsyn scored his second goal of the night 19 seconds later. Hornqvist took a shot from inside the right board above the faceoff circle. Kostitsyn, stationed in front of the goal, redirected the puck into the net.

After that goal, Oilers coach Randy Carlyle removed Hiller from the game and replaced him with Ellis, a former Predators goaltender. Hiller faced seven shots.

Perry answered for the Ducks with a goal at 16:01 of the first period. With Nashville's Pekka Rinne moving toward right side of the goal, Bobby Ryan saw Perry standing to the left side of the crease. Perry put the puck in from a couple of feet out before Rinne could recover.


Notes: The Predators scored in the first period for the ninth time in 10 games, holding a 16-6 goals edge against their opponents in the first 20 minutes. ... Hiller was playing his first game since being activated from injured reserve Wednesday after missing 15 games due to vertigo issues. ... It was the 451st NHL career win for Nashville coach Barry Trotz which moved him into the top 20 in all-time coaching victories.


Three star selections
1st:   SERGEI KOSTITSYN
2nd:   NICK SPALING
3rd:   COREY PERRY
Winning Goaltender
Pekka Rinne

Losing Goaltender
Dan Ellis

SCHEDULE

HOME
AWAY
PROMOTIONAL

STANDINGS

WESTERN CONFERENCE
  TEAM GP W L OT GF GA PTS
1 p - CHI 48 36 7 5 155 102 77
2 y - ANA 48 30 12 6 140 118 66
3 y - VAN 48 26 15 7 127 121 59
4 x - STL 48 29 17 2 129 115 60
5 x - LAK 48 27 16 5 133 118 59
6 x - SJS 48 25 16 7 124 116 57
7 x - DET 48 24 16 8 124 115 56
8 x - MIN 48 26 19 3 122 127 55
9 CBJ 48 24 17 7 120 119 55
10 PHX 48 21 18 9 125 131 51
11 DAL 48 22 22 4 130 142 48
12 EDM 48 19 22 7 125 134 45
13 CGY 48 19 25 4 128 160 42
14 NSH 48 16 23 9 111 139 41
15 COL 48 16 25 7 116 152 39
COMPLETE STANDINGS

STATS

2012-2013 REGULAR SEASON
SKATERS: GP G A +/- Pts
S. Weber 48 9 19 -2 28
D. Legwand 48 12 13 -6 25
M. Fisher 38 10 11 6 21
C. Wilson 25 7 12 1 19
R. Josi 48 5 13 -7 18
G. Bourque 34 11 5 6 16
S. Kostitsyn 46 3 12 -5 15
P. Hornqvist 24 4 10 -1 14
K. Klein 47 3 11 -1 14
N. Spaling 47 9 4 -10 13
 
GOALIES: W L OT Sv% GAA
P. Rinne 15 16 8 .910 2.43
C. Mason 1 7 1 .873 3.73
FULL TEAM STATS

 


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