Nashville, TN – The Nashville Predators put on a powerful display of goal scoring tonight against the visiting Anaheim Ducks in a lopsided win, 6-1. Nashville got goals from six different players tonight, and Pekka Rinne put on a clinic in goal for the Predators.
THE CAPTAIN Roman Josi got the scoring started at 11:23 of the first period as the Predators had the two man advantage, with a quick wrist shot that beat John Gibson for the early 1-0 lead.
Colton Sissons then put the Predators up 2-0 when he stepped out of the penalty box and grabbed the puck and drove to the net to beat Gibson for the score at 16:19 of the period.
Anaheim was outplaying the Predators and had more shots on goal in the early going, but just couldn’t convert. Nashville was taking advantage of all of their opportunities to score and that was the difference to this point in the game.
Mattias Ekholm would give Nashville a 4-0 lead at 10:08 of the second period when he stole the puck at center ice and charged the net, scoring on Gibson when he went top shelf for the goal.
Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne had been frustrating the Ducks all night with saves that made him worthy of the Vezina Trophy and filling a highlight reel that would have dominated the evening sports reports.
Anaheim would finally get on the board at 3:59 of the final frame when Ryan Getzlaf intercepted a pass and fired a bullet from the slot, just under the bar, and the score was 4-1.
That’s when the game began to get “chippy” when Anaheim started pushing the Predators around looking to draw them into cheap penalties and trying to send a message for the whipping they were getting. Nashville kept it’s cool and continued to pour it on.
At 4:30 of the third period, Viktor Arvidsson grabbed a loose puck in front of the net and snapped it home and the Predators regained their four goal lead, 5-1.
Nashville out-shot Anaheim 30-27, but the Ducks dominated the face off winning 65%. Anaheim took seven penalties on the night compared to four on the Predators.
Pekka Rinne is off to a hot start this season, extending his record tonight to 5-0-1.
Nashville welcomes the Minnesota Wild to the Bridgestone Arena on Thursday night. Puck drops at 7:00pm.
