NHL Playoffs, Predators vs. Ducks, 3-2: Full highlights, final score and more

Nashville Predators get off to a hot start with a big road win in game one of the NHL playoffs opening round against the Anaheim Ducks

With all of the news leading up to Game 1 that the Anaheim Ducks would be returning to full health, it seemed as though they would come out firing and put on a strong showing. Not quite the case. The Ducks looked a bit off from the start and it led to an early James Neal goal as Nashville jumped out to the quick lead just over 30 seconds into the game.

The Ducks would fire back, however, as Ryan Getzlaf put in a rebound on a power play. The Ducks would get the next goal too as a great play in the defensive zone by Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm sprung Andrew Cogliano up the ice as he found Ryan Kesler, who fired a wrist shot past Rinne. The Ducks seemed to be carrying all of the momentum at that point.

However, more lazy defensive zone coverage by Anaheim led to Nashville’s second goal as Craig Smith was able to get behind the Duck defense and tip in a Ryan Ellis shot pass. The game went back and forth in the middle of the third period but once again, a miscue by Ducks defensemen proved costly.

Nashville forward Filip Forsberg took advantage of a questionable cross ice pass by Ducks rookie defenseman Shea Theodore. Simon Despres had issues handling the Theodore blue-line pass and Forsberg tipped it up the ice to himself before throwing the puck towards the net with a teammate crashing the crease. The puck ended up going in off of Theodore’s skate as Gibson could not move cross crease quick enough to stop the own goal.

The Ducks tried to tie the game in the late stages of the third period but came up short as Pekka Rinne was impressive in Game 1 and Nashville walked away with a 3-2 win in Anaheim. Nashville had the slight edge in terms of possession and the Ducks were credited with 20 turnovers, a recipe for disaster.

The Ducks will need more from their defensive unit as all three goals came on questionable plays and bad defensive zone coverage and miscues.

Three Stars

1st Star –  James Neal

Neal opened up the scoring early in the first period as he jumped on a puck that was turned over in the Ducks defensive zone. Thats not all he did though. Neal was a pest all night long and was ready to play. He was physical and in the Ducks’ faces all game as he was constantly mixing it up and it was noticeable that he was an issue for the Ducks defense.

2nd Star –  Ryan Ellis

Ellis is the defenseman that slides under the radar for the Predators due to their top pairing star power. However, he did not go unnoticed last night. Ellis was physical and made a ton of plays to generate offense and quickly get the puck up the ice in transition. It was his savvy play in the second period that led to the Colin Wilson redirect.

3rd Star –  Hampus Lindholm

Lindholm had himself a game. Unfortunately for the Ducks, they lost Josh Manson early in the game to injury and the Ducks’ other defensemen not named Lindholm really struggled. Lindholm made the play that led to the Ducks’ second goal, getting credited with an assist, and finished the game as a +1. He was dominant throughout the game at both ends of the ice and it appears that Boudreau and his coaching staff may want to rely heavily on Lindholm in Game 2 as Fowler, Despres and the other Ducks defensemen really struggled in game one.

Highlights

Next Game

The Ducks will look to get even in Game 2, which will be Sunday, April 17 at Honda Center in Anaheim. The Ducks can’t afford to go down 2-0 heading back to Nashville. Puck drop is set for 10:30 PM EST.

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