The Ducks (41-31-5) welcome the Predators (36-31-10) to Honda Center for the second of three meetings between the teams this regular season.
Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. PT and will air on KCOP-13 and Victory+.
Anaheim dropped another game on Saturday to the Flames in a 5-3 loss.
While the Ducks remain tied with the Oilers in points (87), the regular season is quickly coming to a close and head coach Joel Quenneville discussed what his team needs to home in on down the stretch.
“We need to play a solid game,” Quenneville said. “I think that we’ve got to earn our way into this playoff year. I think that whether we got a little bit expecting that it’s already been achieved where we’re at, we’d all take where we’re at today knowing we’re tied for first place, and everybody’s got five games to go. Anybody can win it.
“Let’s incentive ourselves and play this game like it’s a playoff game and that’s the meaning and the purpose … You’ve gotta earn it in this business and in this situation as well. Let’s go get it.”
Quenneville also provided numerous injury updates ahead of tonight’s game. While the return of Cutter Gauthier will have to wait past this battle with the Preds, the head coach provided some optimism for No. 61’s return.
“Cutter skated today, very light like he did the other day,” he said. “But progress … We’re shooting [to see him] before the end of the homestand.”
Coach Q additionally shared updates on Radko Gudas and Ross Johnston.
Gudas is “getting better every day” per Quenneville. While the coach won’t put a timetable on the captain’s return, he said “he’s closer than he was before.”
As for Johnston, who went down with a lower-body injury in mid-March with an estimated return of three to four weeks, Quenneville said the timeline remains the same but “he’s doing pretty well” and hopes to get him on the ice in the near future.
The Predators are on the second game of a back-to-back after losing to the Kings in shootouts, 3-2, last night.
The loss moved Los Angeles one point ahead of Nashville for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference proving this is a team that isn’t going away any time soon knowing that final spot will be hotly contested until the end.
“A game is a game," Filip Forsberg said. "I mean, it was an important game tonight, but the next one is important, too. The last one was, too."
Per Quenneville, Lukas Dostal will start in the net for Anaheim.
