After an extremely late-night shootout win over the Los Angeles Kings, the Nashville Predators face the Anaheim Ducks tonight.
Despite their deadline moves, the Ducks have been playing some of the most successful hockey of their season recently. Trevor Zegras leads the team in all three production categories, with 21G/34A, while Troy Terry has also been a significant contributor. Cam Fowler continues to rack up the assists, and John Gibson is still doing his best—albeit a best that’s not what it once was.
The Ducks have struggled offensively and especially defensively, both at even strength and on the penalty kill. They’ve had bad luck converting on the shots they do manage to take, though that’s changed to some extent recently (hence their better outcomes of late). Terry and Zegras are the only players remaining on the team who even approach dragging the puck to the correct side of the rink on a regular basis. It’s been a rough year in Anaheim.
Preds who had a good game last night include Tommy Novak (the lone goalscorer), Kiefer Sherwood, Luke Evangelista, Roman Josi, and Matt Duchene (the lone shootout scorer). It’s always nice when puck control gets rewarded on the scoresheet, as it did for Novak and Duchene.
How to Watch
The game airs at 8:30 Central/9:30 Eastern (finally!) on Bally Sports South and 102.5 The Game.