Ducks can’t respond after Filip Forsberg scores to lift Predators to victory
Filip Forsberg broke a tie early in the third period and also had an assist to help the Nashville Predators beat the Ducks 4-2 on Sunday night for their fifth straight victory.
It is the first time in Nashville’s 25 seasons that it has swept a trip of at least five games.
“It was a hard road trip, but we rallied around each other after that big loss at home (9-2 against Dallas on Feb. 15). I think that ruffled some feathers in our team and we answered back,” said Michael McCarron, who had a goal in the third period. “It feels amazing coming out of this trip undefeated and gives us momentum heading into a big playoff push.”
Roman Josi and Gustav Nyquist also scored for Nashville, and Kevin Lankinen stopped 30 shots.
Pierre-Luc Dubois and Trevor Moore scored in the shootout and Kevin Fiala had a goal and an assist in the Kings’ 3-2 victory over the Ducks.
Nashville has 18 road victories, tied for third-most in the NHL. The Predators have points in seven of their last eight games away from home.
The Predators scored at least four goals on every game during the trip and have a four-point lead over St. Louis for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
“I don’t think we we’re looking too far ahead of the fog, I thought we played well but didn’t get the results early, but I thought we matured as a group and we put ourselves in a position to have some fun here down the stretch,” coach Andrew Brunette said.
Brett Leason had a goal and an assist for the Ducks. Isac Lundestrom also scored and Lukas Dostal made 25 saves. The Ducks have lost three straight and four of five.
“We played well. We killed four power plays and had better scoring chances. They had two floater shots go in and that hurts. That’s a game we could have won,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “I told the team we played them two other times and we probably played them better this game than we did the other two games and we won them.”
Forsberg made it 2-1 at 3:36 of the third with his 28th goal of the season. He got the puck off the draw between Lundestrom and Nashville’s Tommy Novak in the left faceoff circle, skated around just outside the slot and fired a long wrist shot that Dostal was unable to stop with his stick and blocker.
McCarron made it 3-1 five minutes later off a rebound.
With Dostal off for an extra skater, Leason scored with 2:24 left in the third. Nyquist then put it out of reach with an empty-net goal, his third of the trip, with 2:02 to go.
Josi opened the scoring a minute into the second period with one-timer from the point and near the blue line. Josi, who is tied for seventh among NHL defensemen with 12 goals, has two goals and nine points in his last eight games.
Lundestrom evened it with 8:05 left in the period with a wrist shot from the slot that went between Lankinen’s legs. It was Lundestrom’s third goal of the season and first point in eight games.
The Ducks were without forward Troy Terry, who is tied for the team lead in scoring with 45 points. Terry suffered an upper-body injury Saturday in a 3-2 shootout loss against the Kings, and is day to day.
Up next for the Ducks: at San José on Thursday night.
