Main Goal Is Better Start

The Ducks were pretty cranky about their lackluster start Wednesday against the Detroit Red Wings, which helped produce a 5-2 loss. Avoiding another sluggish start tonight against the expansion Nashville Predators is the Ducks’ No. 1 priority.

“I don’t think we had the pop, the drive right off the bat,” said Paul Kariya, who scored both Duck goals. “We lost faceoffs. We didn’t put pressure on the puck. We didn’t play our aggressive forechecking game. I would have thought we would have had more momentum coming off our home stand.”

The Ducks won three of four at the Arrowhead Pond before beginning a five-game trip at Detroit.

“We weren’t desperate,” Coach Craig Hartsburg said. “We let Detroit initiate the play early and that was the end of the hockey game.”

Tonight

at Nashville, 5 PST

Fox Sports West 2

Site--Nashville Arena.

Radio--XTRA (690).

Records--Ducks 8-8-4, Predators 8-11-1.

Record vs. Predators--first meeting.

Update--The Ducks were only 5-13-2 in their first 20 games in their inaugural season of 1993-94, but went on to tie the Florida Panthers with 33 victories, the NHL record for an expansion team. That’s the mark the first-year Predators are shooting for. Nashville has a few players familiar to Southland hockey fans. Former Ducks J.J. Daigneault and Denny Lambert and former Kings John Slaney, Jan Vopat and Vitali Yachmenev are on Nashville’s roster. Mighty Duck center Travis Green, sidelined for two games because of a sprained left knee, hasn’t ruled out playing tonight. Green hoped to test his knee at this morning’s skate before making a final decision.