Frederik Andersen to start for Ducks in place of John Gibson in Game 3 at Nashville

After losing the first two games of their first-round playoff series against the Predators, the Ducks will turn to goaltender Frederik Andersen on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena and will rely on the playoff experience of veteran center Shawn Horcoff to help them mount a comeback against a team that has stymied them with its grit and solid defensive play.

Andersen will replace John Gibson, who was on the short end of a pair of 3-2 decisions at Anaheim. Gibson has a less-than-stellar 3.08 goals-against average and .900 save percentage, but Coach Bruce Boudreau said the switch isn’t a commentary on Gibson’s play. And, in truth, Boudreau had said before the series began that he would likely use both goaltenders, which he did during the regular season. However, few teams do that during the playoffs unless their No. 1 goalie is injured.

“It’s easy for me to say we’ve been going two on, two off, but at the same time if Freddie had played the first two and we had lost them, no matter how he played in both games, I would have changed it up as well,” Boudreau said Tuesday, after the Ducks’ morning skate. “It’s not anything John’s doing. It’s more changing it to hopefully get our team playing a little bit better.”

Andersen started all 16 of the Ducks’ playoff games last season in a run that ended when they lost to Chicago in Game 7 of the Western Conference final. He was 11-5, with a 2.34 goals-against average and .913 save percentage. This season, he was 22-9-7 with a 2.30 goals-against average and .919 save percentage. A late-season concussion meant he couldn’t play many games down the stretch, leading to Gibson being designated the starter.

“This is the most fun kind of pressure, so I’m excited to play,” Andersen said.

“I think we’ve got to try and get through the neutral zone a little bit better, play in their end more. We want to put more pressure on them. I think everyone’s excited to play this game, really motivated to get back in the series.”

Watching the first two games from the bench reinforced in his mind how good the Predators are. “They go to the net a lot,” he said. “We’ve got to be sharp there and make sure we clear the bodies and get the puck out of the way.”

Horcoff will replace Chris Wagner. “Here’s a guy that’s gone to Game 7 in the Stanley Cup final. So I mean, my thought with him is experience, especially when you’re in sort of a desperate situation, would really come forward,” Boudreau said of Horcoff, who played for runner-up Edmonton in the 2006 Cup final.

Horcoff, 37, has played 41 playoff games and has 11 goals and 29 points in those games. His most recent playoff experience came with Dallas in 2014, when he and the Stars lost a six-game, first-round series to the Ducks. He said he has been “chomping at the bit” to get into the lineup against Nashville.

“Tonight, obviously we’re in a desperate game and we need to have everyone tonight going on the same page. It’s a big game for us,” he said. “There’s a couple things we need to change. We need to get a little cleaner through the neutral zone. I think some more pucks to the net, more traffic, would do us a lot of good. We talked about a few other things in the locker room today that we’ll kind of keep to ourselves.

“They’re playing well. You’ve got to give them credit right now. They’re playing a real solid game and they’re going to force us to have to improve ours and step it up or else we’re going to be in trouble. But I feel confident that we can do that in here.”

One thing they must do is avoid the kinds of penalties they took in Game 2, which Boudreau labeled “selfish and dumb.” Those were retaliatory penalties and for yapping at the officials, issues Boudreau said had been discussed.

“I addressed that as a team and that’s it. I think they’re all smart enough and they know and I think I’m quite confident today that we’ll play very hard but between the whistles,” Boudreau said. “I think we all knew that we were a little over the line in the last game.”

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