Anaheim Ducks Pull Away to Defeat Nashville Predators, 4-1

The Anaheim Ducks (30-31-8, 68 points) completed their season sweep of the Nashville Predators (25-35-8, 58 points) with a 3-1 win Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.

It was the fourth consecutive loss for the Predators, who had previously won four straight. 

Justus Annunen made 30 saves in the loss for Nashville, while Anaheim's John Gibson made 33 saves in the win.

Forsberg-O'Reilly-Stamkos
Bunting-Sissons-Marchessault
Smith-Svechkov-Evangelista
L'Heureux-McCarron-Vrana

Skjei-Blankenburg
Del Gaizo-Stastney
Oesterle-Barron

Annunen
Saros

Extra: Englund, Bellows
IR: Josi, Lauzon, Wilsby

The Predators got an early chance on the man advantage when Luke Evangelista drew a tripping call on Isac Lundestrom just past the 6-minute mark. Steven Stamkos made it count, firing home a one-timer on the power play to give Nashville a 1-0 lead at the 7:07 mark.

Stamkos' goal was the 578th of his career, giving him sole possession of 22nd place on the NHL's all-time goal scoring list. 

The shots were even at 10 apiece at the end of the first period, with Nashville maintaining a 1-0 lead.

The Ducks got on the board just past the 7-minute mark in the second when an offensive zone turnover by the Predators resulted in a 2-on-1 for Anaheim in the other direction. Jackson LaCombe followed up on a Mason McTavish shot and tucked in the rebound to tie the score at 1-1.

After that, there was a clear momentum shift in Anaheim's favor as the Predators' defensive effort crumbled. First, Troy Terry shrugged off a pair of Nashville defenders at center ice to carry the puck through the zone and beat Annunen cleanly to give Anaheim a 2-1 lead at the 13:19 mark of the second period.

Then, just over two minutes later, Trevor Zegras batted in a loose puck behind Annunen to make it 3-1. None of the three Predators defenders on the play was able to gain control of the puck, allowing Zegras to score easily.

With Annunen pulled for the extra attacker, Terry appeared to score into the empty net with just over two minutes remaining in regulation. However, a successful offside challenge by Nashville took the goal off the board to keep the score at 3-1.

Alex Killorn successfully scored into the empty net with 35 seconds remaining for the 4-1 final.