Recap: Ducks Upend NHL-Best Predators 2-1 in Shootout

ANAHEIM - In what has been a rocky first month, tonight's victory is unquestionably the Ducks' best of the season thus far.
Anaheim's 2-1 shootout triumph over the visiting Predators in front of a boisterous Honda Center crowd handed NHL-best Nashville its first road loss of the year after reeling off eight in a row. It was also an impressive bounce back for the Ducks from a disheartening 5-1 loss suffered three nights ago.

Anaheim got goals from Pontus Aberg and Rickard Rakell in the shootout, while goalie John Gibson denied three of four Nashville attempts, making the winning save on Nashville's Kevin Fiala in the fourth round. That came just after Rakell slipped the puck past Predators goalie Pekka Rinne to lead off the fourth.

"I had a little plan before I went out there," Rakell said. "Previous times this year hasn't really worked for me, so I just tried to throw everything out there. It was really nice to see go in."
The Ducks were suddenly on their heels in 3-on-3 overtime when Jakob Silfverberg was whistled for a slashing penalty on a net crashing PK Subban with 2:09 left. But Gibson came up big yet again, making a series of big stops among his 34 on the night.

"They have a good power play, so we knew they were going to get shots," Gibson said. "That one just hit my glove, and I scrambled. I was fortunate enough to get a piece of my glove on it. Whatever it hit, I kept it out."
Nashville came into tonight having won five in a row and owning the league's best record at 13-3-0. They had also taken the last three vs. Anaheim dating back to last season, and of course have the distinction of eliminating the Ducks from the 2011, 2016 and 2017 postseasons.
But tonight the Ducks (8-8-3) got the upper hand thanks to the heroics in the shootout as well as captain Ryan Getzlaf's lone Anaheim goal late in the second period.
"It was a great test for us, especially playing against those guys," Rakell said. "It shows we can play with any team in this league."
The Ducks and Preds skated scoreless in a tight battle for nearly forty minutes, until Getzlaf broke through with 29.1 seconds left in the middle frame. Linemate Rakell finished a textbook give-and-go by sliding a beautiful backhand pass from the left wing corner that Getzlaf redirected top shelf.

Getzlaf has 43 points (including 13 goals) in 28 career regular season games vs. Nashville.
Nashville tied it with its first of the night, a quick wrister from the left wing circle by Fiala that Gibson didn't react to quickly enough. Gibson got payback with the impressive stop on Fiala in the shootout.
Ducks winger Ondrej Kase made his season debut tonight after missing the first 18 games with a concussion suffered in the preseason finale on September 29 in LA. Despite missing some time with a concussion last season, Kase scored a career-high 20 goals in 66 games.
Kase had two chances to win it on the first shift of overtime, but he was thwarted both times by Rinne (29 saves).
"Just 20 guys competing. That's what we're asking," said Ducks coach Randy Carlyle. "We felt we embarrassed ourselves with our effort and our lack of competiveness in our last game. We needed a response game to feel good about ourselves. We felt we got that tonight."
Despite some struggles, the Ducks have won three of the last four at home, but they head to Vegas for a bout with the Golden Knights on Wednesday before returning to Honda Center for the next four straight.
"It's definitely a step in the right direction, and hopefully something we can build off," Gibson said. "It seems like we've been able to win one here and there, but not go on a run. Hopefully we can start stringing some together, take this as a stepping stone and build from it."