Ducks Defeat Predators 5-3, Zegras Injured in First Period

On Tuesday night the Nashville Predators welcomed the Anaheim Ducks to Bridgestone Arena for their second matchup of the season. The teams met on November 14 and despite the Predators getting out to a 2-0 lead, Anaheim came back to defeat the Predators 3-2.

Tonight Nashville was looking to continue the level of play they exhibited in Saturday's road win against the Dallas Stars. The Ducks were looking for their first win since November 27.

Cody Glass returned to the lineup while Denis Gurianov got his second start in the regular season with Nashville. Juuse Saros was back in net. 

Early in the first period, Ducks forward Trevor Zegras got tangled up with Juuso Pärssinen in a legal play and had to be helped off the ice and down the tunnel. At 9:04 Ryan Strome headed to the penalty box for a trip on Roman Josi. The Predators set up on the man advantage but neither unit couldn't capitalize. As the power play expired, Ryan Strome popped out of the box and scored to give the Ducks the 1-0 lead at 11:12. 

Right after the goal, Luke Schenn and Ross Johnston dropped the gloves and headed to their respective boxes. While the two sat, Frank Vatrano tipped the puck and it went off McDonagh's skate past Saros to give the Ducks a 2-0 lead at 14:11. 

A late period penalty by Filip Forsberg gave the Ducks a power play chance, and Mason McTavish found a sliver of net glove side high to give Anaheim a power play goal. The teams headed into the locker room with Nashville down 3-0. 

At 3:05 in the second period Troy Terry scored a goal off the stick of Dante Fabbro to give the Ducks a 4-0 lead. The Predators began to generate some offensive chances but goaltender Lukas Dostal came up with the saves under pressure. 

Nashville had another chance on the power play late in the second as Mason McTavish sat for interference, but Nashville couldn't convert on the man advantage. Despite outshooting the Ducks 14-7 in the period, the Predators headed into the second intermission down 4-0. 

The Predators started the third period with offensive pressure and then got their third power play chance at 1:06 as Radko Gudas sat for tripping Filip Forsberg. Again, the puck ended up in the Predators net as soon as the two minutes expired as Gudas jumped out of the box and grabbed his own rebound and put it in off a Predators' skate. 

Anaheim earned their second power play as Cody Glass was whistled for a hook at 8:23. Nashville got on the board shorthanded as Alexandre Carrier blocked a shot, got up and skated down the ice, and received a pass from Gustav Nyquist to score at 9:44. 

Glass headed back to the box at 11:42 for a tripping call. Nashville killed off the penalty, and then Michael McCarron battled to win the puck and get it to Phil Tomasino who scored at 17:02. 

The Predators immediately went empty net after the goal by Tomasino, and with :43 remaining in the game Denis Gurianov scored his first goal as a Predators in a net front flurry. Despite the late pressure, time ran out for Nashville, and the Ducks left Bridgestone Arena with a 5-3 win.