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Saturday, Nov. 4 8:00pm ET
Preds halt five-game losing streak to Ducks | |||||
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- When the two big guns of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks are shut down, it helps to have a role player like Pascal Trepanier. Neither Paul Kariya nor Teemu Selanne scored Saturday night, but Trepanier's first goal in 50 games came with 2:13 left in regulation and gave the Ducks a 3-3 tie with the Nashville Predators. "That was what we really needed," Selanne said. "That's the difference this year. Even when we're down a goal or a couple, we find a way to come back." With the Ducks trailing 3-2, Trepanier's slap shot from the right point made it through a maze of players in front and beat Predators goalie Tomas Vokoun. Trepanier has just three goals in 105 career games, and hadn't scored since March 17. "That was a rocket," Selanne said. "It was really a hard shot." Guy Hebert made a sprawling save on David Legwand in overtime. Vokoun stopped Teemu Selanne's slap shot and Paul Kariya's backhand during a power play in the extra session. "It was a hard battle," Trepanier said. "We battled back, that's the good thing. We couldn't close the deal in overtime, but we got a tie on the road." Cliff Ronning put Nashville up 3-2 at 8:37 of the third period. Ronning took a pass from Patric Kjellberg in the left circle and snapped a wrister past Hebert's stick. "Tonight was one of (Ronning's) best games," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "It was almost as if it was a playoff game." The Ducks defeated the Predators all four times they played last season. Nashville had lost five straight to Anaheim. The Predators haven't beaten the Ducks since Jan. 4, 1999. "They swept us pretty easily last year," Trotz said. "We couldn't contain their team last year and tonight we did." Rob Valicevic scored on a rebound at 14:22 of the first period to give the Predators the early lead. Hebert stopped Nashville's Greg Johnson on a 2-on-1 but the rebound dropped at his feet. Valicevic cruised down the slot and poked it home from the crease. "It shows a lot of character against a team like Anaheim," Predators defenseman Cale Hulse said. "We got a lead, they tie it up, and we build off of that. We get the lead again. This is a big positive for us." Valicevic has goals in each of the last two games after being blanked in his first 10. Early in the second period, German Titov's unassisted goal tied it at 1. Titov one-timed a slap shot from the left boards that flew over Vokoun's glove. Randy Robitaille briefly put Nashville up 2-1 at 9:24 of the second period. After Kimmo Timonen's shot deflected in front, Robitaille scored on a high shot from the left circle. Ladislav Kohn made it 2-2 just 40 seconds later, tipping Oleg Tverdovsky's point shot. Kohn's deflection made the puck bounce through Vokoun's legs. The Ducks were 0-for-6 on the power play and the Predators 0-for-4. "We didn't have our `A' game tonight," Selanne said. "I don't know why. Sometimes when the power play isn't going well, you'll have a game like this. It's me and Paul's job to fix that right now." Game notesTitov played in his 499th NHL game and scored his 137th career goal. ... Nashville is 4-1-1-0 against Eastern Conference teams and will play the next four games against clubs from the other conference. ... Since Legwand was a healthy scratch at Colorado on Oct. 25, he has three assists in four games. He earned the second assist on Ronning's goal. ... Nashville has scored first in nine of its 13 games. Anaheim has the first goal in just six of 15. ... Steve Rucchin's assist on Kohn's goal was the 200th of his career. ... After the game, Nashville recalled goalie Chris Mason from Milwaukee (IHL) and reassigned goalie Jan Lasak to Milwaukee. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Anaheim Clubhouse Nashville Clubhouse RECAPS Los Angeles 2 New Jersey 1
Anaheim 3
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