The Anaheim Ducks are seeking their first winning streak of 2025 when they host the Nashville Predators tonight at Honda Center. The Predators, winners of five straight and seven of their last 10, appear to be on the path to turning things around after an absolutely woeful first half of the season.
Meanwhile, the Ducks are coming off a dominant 5-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Better than the Penguins in all three phases of the game, the Ducks will need a similarly complete performance to knock off the Predators tonight at home. Let’s preview the matchup.
Which Offense Shows Up for Anaheim?
The Ducks are firmly cemented in 32nd place in goal scoring with just 118 goals in 48 games. That’s 2.45 goals per game, which is right around where they’ve been for the last few seasons. The lack of improvement in this statistic is highly problematic. And yet, they scored five on Thursday against the Penguins. So. which offense shows up tonight?
Related: 3 Takeaways From Ducks’ Impressive Win Over Penguins
That depends on a number of factors. The Ducks rarely play a game where more than one forward line is clicking. On Thursday night, however, multiple forward lines got involved. Mason McTavish, who skated with Robby Fabbri and Cutter Gauthier, scored twice. Alex Killorn, who skated with Trevor Zegras and Leo Carlsson, likewise scored twice. And each member of the Ducks’ most consistent line of the season so far – Troy Terry, Ryan Strome, and Frank Vatrano – got on the scoresheet. If they get this kind of diversified scoring, then they can beat anyone. The statistics reveal as much. Consider this – the Ducks haven’t lost a game all season in regulation when they scored three or more goals. The conclusion drawn from that doesn’t get much simpler: if the offense finds a groove, then their defense and goaltending are more than enough to get the job done. The Predators have firepower, but if the Ducks can put forth a similar effort that they did against Pittsburgh, then there is a path to victory.
Predators Are Currently Firing on All Cylinders
Speaking of firepower, the Predators loaded up on it in the offseason when they signed Steven Stamkos, Johnathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei in the opening hours of free agency last summer. Stamkos and Marchessault joined a forward cast that already included Fillip Forsberg and Ryan O’Reilly. Unfortunately for them, they learned the hard way that star power was not enough. They currently stand as the NHL’s biggest disappointment of the first half and currently boast an 18-22-7 record, eerily similar to that of the Ducks (19-23-6).
That said, the Predators have stormed out of the second-half gates. In just the last week alone, they have rattled off two six-goal and one seven-goal victories. That is remarkable. Leading them on this latest charge is the veteran Forsberg, who has a whopping seven goals and 12 points in the last five games. The Ducks have their work cut out for them tonight, and it begins with the forecheck closing quickly on the Predators’ defensemen so as not to give them the time and space to cleanly get pucks out to their playmakers, which are everywhere throughout this lineup. Roman Josi is a dynamic and offensively minded defenseman that can make plays by himself, so closing the distance on him is imperative.
Ducks Line to Watch: Killorn-Carlsson-Zegras
This will be an interesting line to watch tonight. Head coach Greg Cronin assembled this trio when Zegras returned from his knee injury, and it was effective in the win over Pittsburgh. Killorn had his first two-goal game since Dec. 14 against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Zegras collected an assist. Hopefully, these guys are the ones that can get Carlsson going, because he has struggled to find consistency in his sophomore campaign.
Some of that falls on Cronin, who must find the right ways and line combinations that will bring the best out of his players. Thus far, he has not found the recipe that consistently creates the opportunities for Carlsson and Zegras to be their effective and creative selves. Carlsson, at times this season, looks as if he’s taken a step back and Zegras hasn’t found his early career offensive form under the second-year head coach. Perhaps the two of them skating together, with a stable, savvy veteran like Killorn, is what they need. They should get another look together tonight so look for them to make some noise.
Ducks Could Really Use a Winning Streak
The Ducks put themselves in a good spot as the calendar year opened but have spoiled that with an underwhelming performance in January. They have won just four times this month and will need to pick up all the points they can get to avoid sinking to the bottom of the Western Conference. The same applies to the Predators, which should make for an exciting contest tonight. Tune in at 7 PM PST.
