Justus Annunen made 43 saves for his third career shutout as the Nashville Predators defeated the Anaheim Ducks 5-0, extending Anaheim’s losing streak to six games.
The victory moved Nashville to 84 points, one point ahead of the Los Angeles Kings for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Both teams have four regular-season games remaining.
Erick Haula, Filip Forsberg and Brady Skjei scored second-period goals for Nashville.
Zachary L’Heureux and Fedor Svechkov added third-period tallies. Joakim Kemell and Ryan O’Reilly each contributed two assists.
Annunen’s save total was one shy of his career high. The shutout performance came at a crucial time as Nashville pushes for a playoff berth.
The Ducks have been outscored 29-14 during their current losing streak and remain at 87 points. Anaheim sits one point behind Edmonton and Vegas in the Pacific Division standings.
The Ducks hold just a three-point lead over the eighth-seeded Predators and a four-point advantage over the ninth-seeded Kings.
Second Period Surge
Nashville broke through in the second period when Haula took a pass from Kemell in the high slot and snapped a shot over Lukas Dostal’s blocker for his 13th goal.
Forsberg doubled the lead on the power play. The Swedish winger fired a shot from the high slot that beat Dostal glove-side for his team-leading 73rd point.
Anaheim had a golden opportunity to get back in the game when consecutive Nashville tripping penalties gave the Ducks a four-minute power play starting with 4:16 remaining in the period.
The Ducks even had a 22-second two-man advantage during that stretch.
But Anaheim managed just one shot on goal during the extended power play. Skjei then slipped past Anaheim’s defense on a breakaway and snapped a shot over Dostal’s right shoulder for a short-handed goal with 58 seconds left in the period.
The goal gave Nashville a commanding 3-0 lead heading into the final frame.
Jeffrey Viel took elbowing and roughing penalties with 15 seconds remaining in the second, giving Nashville another four-minute power play opportunity. Boos rained down from the Honda Center crowd at the end of the period for the second consecutive home game.
The Predators visit Utah on Thursday while the Ducks host San Jose the same night.
