Terry breaks tie late in 3rd, Ducks edge Predators in regular-season finale

NASHVILLE -- Troy Terry scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period for the Anaheim Ducks in a 5-4 victory against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday.

It was the final game of the regular season for both teams.

Terry put Anaheim up 5-4 during a four-minute power play at 17:06 of the third after Nashville forward Tyson Jost was given a double-minor penalty for high-sticking Terry with 3:54 left. Mikael Granlund sent a snap shot on net from the slot and Terry lifted the rebound over the left pad of Juuse Saros from in front.

Anaheim finished third in the Pacific Division and will face the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference First Round.

“This is all new for me so I’m just excited,” Terry said. “I’m excited for our fan base. I’m excited for a lot of people in this organization and just around Orange county. It is nice to be set and know where we’re going. Obviously (Edmonton) has two of the best players in the world so they create their own challenges, and I’m excited. I think it’ll be a good series.”

Granlund had three assists for the Ducks (43-33-6), who were 1-6-2 in their previous nine games. John Carlson had two assists, and Ville Husso made 17 saves.

“It’s nice to win a game,” Anaheim coach Joel Quenneville said. “I know we’ve lost a couple close ones here in the last little bit here, and we had a little tough stretch going into the playoffs. It’s nice having some positivity entering a real tough series ahead of us. Hey, we’re excited to be playing playoff hockey. I think in the last period we got ignited there. Let’s get excited about these playoffs and let’s don’t think it’s going to be an on-off switch come playoff time.”

Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist, and Filip Forsberg scored twice for the Predators (38-34-10), who lost three of their final four games. Luke Evangelista and Ryan Ufko each had two assists, and Saros made 35 saves.

Forward Cole O'Hara, who was selected by Nashville in the fourth round (No. 114) of the 2022 NHL Draft, had an assist and one shot on goal in 11:23 of ice time in his NHL debut after being recalled from Milwaukee of the American Hockey League earlier in the day.

Cutter Gauthier gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead 1:36 into the first period. Ryan Poehling skated into the offensive zone and fed a backdoor cross-crease pass to Gauthier, who buried a snap shot over Saros' left pad from the right face-off circle.

Stamkos tied it 1-1 at 10:09, taking a pass from O'Hara in the left circle and burying a snap shot past Husso's glove.

“That was year 18 for me,” Stamkos said. “It truly does fly. I know it’s a cliché, but I just told (O’Hara) to enjoy it. Have fun. Make plays. I mean it was one of those nights where you come out and just embrace the moment. I think he had some friends and family in here too, so it was really cool for me to to be a part of the history of his career with his first NHL point.”

Forsberg put Nashville up 2-1 with a power-play goal at 15:55 when he tipped Ufko's pass in the slot and the puck rolled in off the right pad of Husso.

Jackson LaCombe tied it 2-2 at 19:39, roofing a snap shot from the blue line through traffic.

Alex Killorn put Anaheim ahead 3-2 at 4:33 of the second period when his one-timer from the right boards beat a screened Saros to the blocker side.

“It was just nice to see maybe a little more of an offensive explosion tonight,” Terry said. “Even selfishly for myself and just some of the other guys because I think we’ve been generating a lot the last week or so and just maybe not finishing. It was good to kind of get that rolling going into the playoffs.”

Forsberg evened the scored 3-3 at 14:37, snapping a shot into the top right corner for his 40th goal of the season.

Stamkos gave the Predators a 4-3 lead while on the power play just 46 seconds later at 15:23. He lifted a backdoor feed from Ryan O'Reilly over Husso's blocker below the left circle.

Tristan Luneau tied it 4-4 at 4:17 of the third period when he finished the rebound off a Granlund chance with a wrist shot from in tight as he crashed the net.

The Ducks outshot the Predators 30-12 over the final two periods.

NOTES: Anaheim earned its 26th comeback win of the season, matching a franchise record achieved in 2013-14. ... Gauthier scored his 41st goal of 2025-26 and passed Teemu Selanne (40 in 2005-06) for the 10th-highest single-season total in Ducks history. ... Carlson recorded his fifth career 60-point season (14 goals, 46 assists). The only active defensemen with more are Erik Karlsson (eight) and Brent Burns (six). ... Stamkos (26) passed Forsberg (24 in 2021-22) for the most home goals in a season by a Predators player. ... Forsberg notched his third career 40-goal season and tied Kent Nilsson, Mats Sundin and Markus Naslund for the most by a Swedish player in NHL history. ... Ufko had two assists for his first multipoint game in the NHL.