Ducks again score 5, McTavish twice to douse red hot Nashville

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Snapping out of a four-game losing streak with seven losses in their last eight games, the Anaheim Ducks have sparked to life with back-to-back five-goal efforts.

Anaheim set the pace to take the lead three separate times and never fall behind, as the Ducks blitzed the Nashville Predators, 5-2, on Saturday at Honda Center.

“I thought we did a really good job coming back when they tied it,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said, “and the game could have gone either way at that point, but responded well. That to me is a reflection of a team that kind of believes in themselves.”

Nashville had won five consecutive games with 19 goals in their last three games before it ran into Anaheim’s 10 goals in two games. The Ducks beat Pittsburgh, 5-1, on Thursday.

“I think both games, honestly, we look pretty similar,” Jansen Harkins said. “It's kind of dull, but I think just playing straight ahead, simple. We all know where we're gonna be, and that's just how we play fast. If you know where the puck's gonna go and you can rely on each other, that's just how you speed up. I think we're just playing with lots of speed right now.”

Mason McTavish netted his second consecutive two-goal game and has scored five goals in the last three games. Just as he did on Thursday, McTavish came close to his first career hat trick, but stayed on his eighth career two-goal outing.

“It's nice to see them go in for him,” Trevor Zegras said of McTavish. “We've been calling him ‘iron sights’ because he hits a lot of posts and crossbars, but we're gonna get him the third one. That's coming. I feel it.”

Pavel Mintyukov opened the scoring in the first. Harkins put Anaheim back ahead in the second period, and Zegras sniped his first goal since returning from injury.

Lukáš Dostál made 32 saves in two periods of work for the victory. John Gibson stopped nine shots in the first period, but left the game in the first intermission with an upper-body injury.

“He's so good,” Zegras said of Dostál. “We knew he was gonna come in and be lights out. Hoping Gibby is all right, and he comes back and we're back to having two amazing goaltenders.”

Anaheim won back-to-back games for the first time in three weeks and is now 19-0-2 when scoring three or more goals this season. The Ducks (20-23-6, 46 points) are nine points out of the final wild card playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The Ducks are back in action on the road on Tuesday in Seattle.

Anaheim came out with a stellar opening period push and capitalized five minutes in.

Pavel Mintyukov snuck a shot from the left boards that seemingly surprised Saros, who couldn’t squeeze the lights tight to seal the five hole. Saros kicked the puck in as he fell back to put the Ducks ahead, 1-0.

Nashville equalized with five minutes remaining in the period.

The Predators found empty space behind the Ducks blue line, as Jackson LaCombe was up in the zone and Radko Gudas held the line, and Filip Forsberg found a streaking Gustav Nyquist, who buried a backhander on the breakaway to tie it up, 1-1.

The Predators nearly spoiled the opening period with a three-shot flurry around the net with 45 seconds remaining. Gibson was up to the task, but was likely injured on the play.

McTavish gathered the puck at the crease with 23 seconds remaining, and pushed the play back into the Nashville end. Alex Killorn and Trevor Zegras each got off shots, but as Nashville went to clear the zone, Zegras collected the soft outlet.

From the left point, Zegras fed Killorn on the right boards, and Killorn zipped it to McTavish at the far post, who finished the play for the lead despite taking Saros’ catching glove to the face.

Anaheim led 2-1 after the first period, and Dostál came on in relief to open the middle frame.

Nashville tied it up once again five minutes into the second period.

Dostál couldn’t handle Adam Wilsby’s point shot through traffic, and O’Reilly put home the rebound to bring the game level, 2-2.

After Anaheim killed off Nashville’s third and most dangerous power play of the game, the Ducks hit the gas.

Harkins and Brett Leason did the hard work down low to get the puck back to Gudas at the point. Gudas unleashed a low shot, and Harkins slapped home the rebound to get back in front, 3-2.

One minute later, Zegras shined, as he collected the rebound off a Drew Helleson shot. Zegras stepped into open space, changed the angle on a toe-drag, short-side snipe for the two-goal lead, 4-2.

Zegras’ tally was his first since returning from injury and his first since Nov. 27.

Less than two minutes later, the Ducks converted a power play, and it was McTavish that earned the home fans their coveted free chicken sandwiches.

Low in the zone, Terry zinged a cross-ice feed from the left circle to McTavish in the right circle, who dropped down to one knee to laser a sharp-angle one-timer for a three-goal advantage, 5-2.

With a healthy lead, the Ducks were able to sit back and absorb Nashville’s pressure in the third period. Dostál made 15 saves in the final frame to put down the Predators.