Gibson makes 32 saves, Ducks hold off Predators

ANAHEIM --The Nashville Predators missed an opportunity to retake first place in the Central Division, losing to the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 at Honda Center on Tuesday.

Jakob Silfverberg scored his team-leading 20th goal of the season, Ryan Getzlaf and Daniel Sprong each scored their 12th, and John Gibson made 32 saves for Anaheim (28-34-9), which has won four of six with all four wins coming against teams competing for Stanley Cup Playoff spots.
"I feel like we've just been upping our game as of late," Getzlaf said. "It doesn't matter who the opponent is, we've been playing a better brand of hockey here and we're trying to build something for next season."
WATCH: [All Predators vs. Ducks highlights]
Filip Forsberg scored two power-play goals, Mikael Granlund had two assists, and Pekka Rinne made 15 saves for the Predators (39-27-5), who remain one point behind the first-place Winnipeg Jets in the Central Division. The Jets lost 5-4 to the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.
"Didn't know the score in Winnipeg," Rinne said. "We have to ask for more from ourselves and everybody included. We have to show more speed, desperation. ... It's a situation in the season where we have a lot of things in our own hands and considering that, it's disappointing."

Nashville is 30th in the NHL in power-play efficiency at 13.2 percent and was 0-for-3 with the man-advantage against the Ducks before getting a 5-on-3 advantage for 45 seconds after Jaycob Megna was called for holding the stick of Granlund at 12:36 of the third period, and Josh Manson was called for delay of game at 13:51.
Rinne was pulled for a three-man advantage and Forsberg scored during the first penalty to make it 3-1 at 14:16.
Forsberg scored again during the second penalty with Rinne still pulled for the extra attacker to make it 3-2 at 15:14.
"I don't think we were sharp enough 5 on 5. Not enough pop to it," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "That flurry in the third, I thought we got going a little bit."

The Ducks took a 1-0 lead when Manson made a long pass to Getzlaf for a breakaway at 3:39 of the first period, the fifth time in the past six games the Ducks scored the first goal in the opening seven minutes.
"It was about starting fast," Getzlaf said. "We know who our opponent is and how good they are, so it was nice to see us get out there and play the way we wanted."
Silfverberg extended his NHL-career long point streak to six games (four goals, four assists) when he scored at 10:56 to make it 2-0.
Rinne made a save on a deflection by Anaheim forward Rickard Rakell and the puck went into the corner. Silfverberg retrieved it just below the goal line and circled in front of the left face-off dot before scoring short side with a wrist shot.
"The bounces are going my way right now," Silfverberg said. "This is usually the way it goes during the year. It goes up and down."

After Anaheim rookie forward Max Jones was unable to convert a penalty shot at 11:47 of the second period, Sprong scored a goal for the third straight game to make it 3-0 at 13:59.
Sprong drove into the Nashville zone against defenseman Ryan Ellis and pulled the puck to his backhand before scoring over Rinne's left shoulder.
"I tried to go through his stick and I cut to the middle," Sprong said. "The other [defenseman] wasn't really there, so it was more of a one-on-one."

They said it

"I feel like we still have everything in our own hands and we are still in a good spot, but we have been saying that all season long and I've got to feel like we are a little bit lucky to be in this situation too. There have been teams losing at the same time when we are losing and it has been helping us. Bottom line is that we have to be better." -- Predators goalie Pekka Rinne
"We're trying to create good habits. We've got a lot of young guys that have a bright future here so we're trying to create good habits and play good hockey. Anything can happen. We're trying to have fun. It's been looking pretty good so we just have to keep it going." -- Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg

Need to know

Forsberg sat out the 5-3 loss to the visiting Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday because of an upper-body injury. ... Silfverberg scored his 103rd goal with the Ducks, tying Andrew Cogliano for eighth place all-time. ... Sprong has scored all 12 of his goals since the Ducks acquired him from the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenseman Marcus Pettersson on Dec. 3. ... Getzlaf needs one assist to give him 30 in 13 consecutive seasons.

What's next

Predators: At the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET; SN, FS-W, FS-TN, NHL.TV)
Ducks: At the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; FS-A, PRIME, NHL.TV)