The Nashville Predators hunt for their fifth straight win when they visit the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night.
The Predators kicked off a three-game road trip with a 3-2 win at the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.
Anaheim, which has lost four of five as it works to remain in the Western Conference wild-card race, dropped a 3-2 decision to the Utah Hockey Club on Wednesday.
Nashville earned just its eighth road win of the season when it recovered after losing a 2-0 lead at San Jose. Filip Forsberg had a goal and an assist, Kieffer Bellows broke a 2-2 tie early in the third period and Steven Stamkos also scored as Nashville won for the fifth time in seven games. Juuse Saros made 25 saves.
“It was tough sledding,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “We worked really hard and they are a fast team. We probably managed things very good for most of the game. The power play was big, and (Saros) was the same.”
Stamkos scored his 577th career goal to tie Mark Recchi for 22nd place on the NHL’s all-time list. He has five goals and four assists over his past four games.
The 26-year-old Bellows, who was recalled from AHL affiliate Milwaukee, scored his first NHL goal since March 25, 2023.
“It means a lot,” Bellows said. “Seeing how happy the guys were for me, that also means a lot. We’re a close group here. I’m excited hopefully for more (goals) and to help this team win some games.”
Anaheim rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie its game Wednesday, but Utah’s Dylan Guenther scored a power-play goal at 7:03 of the third period for the game-winner.
Alex Killorn and Mason McTavish scored, and Ville Husso made 36 saves in his debut for the Ducks, who are 3-6-1 over their past 10 games.
“I thought we played hard,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “It’s kind of a rough turnaround. We got in wicked late this morning, and I thought we battled. And obviously Utah, they’ve got a good team. They’ve got a lot of skilled players, and I thought they made the sacrifice they needed to make to win the game.”
Husso was traded to Anaheim from the Detroit Red Wings on Feb. 24 and recalled from AHL affiliate San Diego on Sunday.
“I think we did a pretty good job,” Husso said. “I’ve been here a short time, but it’s been nice to see everybody battling and playing for each other. And I think when you do that, I think that’s when the good results come.”
On Jan. 25, in the teams’ first meeting, McTavish had two goals, Jansen Harkins and Trevor Zegras scored 62 seconds apart in the second period and the Ducks beat the visiting Predators 5-2 to snap Nashville’s five-game winning streak.
McTavish has been hot of late, scoring 11 points (five goals, six assists) over his past 10 games.
Nashville has held its opponents to three goals or fewer during the winning streak. The Ducks have a 25-3-3 record when scoring three or more goals.
–Field Level Media
