Jonas Hiller stopped all 40 shots he faced to
pick up his fifth career shutout, as the Anaheim Ducks handled the Nashville
Predators, 4-0, at Honda Center.
Hiller collected his first shutout of the season for the Ducks, who had a
1-5-1 record in their previous seven games. Teemu Selanne scored a pair of
goals. Bobby Ryan and Todd Marchant each lit the lamp for Anaheim, which
improved to 3-6-0 as the host this season.
"We played pretty solid defensively. I gave up a couple of rebounds, but our
defensemen were doing a great job tonight clearing those. I'm definitely happy
about the win. If we play the way we did tonight, we'll always have a chance
to win," Hiller said.
Pekka Rinne turned aside 27-of-31 shots for the Predators, who had a three-
game winning streak snapped.
"I thought after two periods, we were the better of the two teams. We couldn't
capitalize on our power play chances. The second goal really ripped us open,
those back to back goals. It's tough to swallow a little bit sometimes,"
Nashville head coach Barry Trotz said.
Selanne got the Ducks offense going with a power-play goal at the 15:32 mark
of the first period. Ryan Getzlaf controlled the puck at the point and skated
to the bottom of the left circle before backhanding a pass to Selanne, whose
wrister beat Rinne.
Hiller made 11 saves and Rinne stopped seven shots during a scoreless second
frame.
Selanne's second score of the contest put Anaheim ahead 2-0 at the 8:05 mark
of the third. Saku Koivu controlled the disc at the right circle and
backhanded a pass to Selanne, whose slapper found the back of the net.
The Ducks used a Marchant goal at the 9:51 mark to build a three-goal margin.
Petteri Nokelainen got the play going when he forced the Predators to turn the
puck over behind their own net. Nokelainen skated out from behind the goal
before sliding a pass to an open Marchant, who lit the lamp with a slapper.
Ryan scored with 2:20 remaining to account for the final score, while Hiller
made 16 saves during the final 20 minutes.
"We have to start building the confidence from little things. This team can
play way better than we did. The good thing is we found a way to win the game
and that is all that really matters. Jonas gave us a chance to win and the
special teams were good," Selanne said.
Game Notes
The Ducks have killed 12 straight penalties going back to October 31 at
Phoenix...With his first goal Thursday, Selanne passed Jean Beliveau for sole
possession of 38th on the NHL's all-time points list with 586-634=1,220. His
first goal also moved him past Keith Tkachuk into sole possession of 10th in
all-time PP goals (211). This was Selanne's third multi-goal game of the
season and the 117th of his career...Getzlaf extended his season-high point
streak to seven games...Koivu extended his point streak to a season-high four
games...Ryan has four goals in his last five games...Koivu and Getzlaf had two
assists apiece...Ducks defenseman James Wisniewski served the second and final
game of his suspension for a hit versus Phoenix last Saturday...The
Predators were without Shea Weber (foot) and Martin Erat (lower-body
injury)....The Predators finished 2-0-2 against the Ducks in 2008-09. Anaheim
has won five of seven and seven of the last 10 meetings in the series
overall. Nashville is just 4-14-3 all-time in Anaheim.
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