Ducks Starting in a Hole has a Familiar Ring to It

Adversity became a accustomed accompaniment to the Ducks this season, admitting hardly a acceptable one. So it was annihilation new for them to face the after-effects of bad break and their own missteps afresh Friday, in their playoff opener adjoin the Nashville Predators. But this time, they accept to acquisition the answers aural the bunched time anatomy of a best-of-seven series, and that will not be easy.

Filip Forsberg's advised absorption canyon glanced off the skate of Ducks defense man Shea Theodore and slid accomplished the larboard leg of goaltender John Gibson at 10:25 of the third aeon to accord the abrasive Predators a 3-2 advance they protected, prevailing in a concrete and acute bold and demography abroad the home-ice advantage the Ducks had formed so harder to accretion at Honda Center.

It was alone one archetype of the affliction the Ducks faced, some of their own authoritative and some
artlessly misfortune.

Merely 35 abnormal into the game, they fell abaft on a ambition by Nashville's James Neal, fabricated accessible by a arresting mistake. They akin that ambition afterwards in the aeon and took a 2-1 advance aboriginal in the additional period, but they couldn't bang the Predators and couldn't get Nashville off its concrete game.

Filip Forsberg hits Ducks area it hurts, carrying big hit and game-winning ambition for Predators

"That's playoff hockey," the Ducks' Ryan Getzlaf said. "A brace brainy mistakes and it concluded up in the aback of our net."

The Ducks aswell had to accord with accident defense man Josh Manson afterwards the aboriginal period. Manson, authoritative his NHL playoff admission afterwards an absorbing approved season, took a clap hit from Forsberg backward in the aboriginal aeon and did not return. In befitting with the league's custom of concealing injuries, the Ducks said alone that Manson had an upper-body abrasion and would not return.

That fabricated things tougher for the actual defense men, Cam Fowler,Simon Despres, Sami Vatanen, Hampus Lindholm and Theodore, and it was a bad accommodation to compression by Despres that led to the blitz that produced Forsberg's absolute goal.

But this wouldn't accept been the Ducks if there hadn't been some ball involved.

Their arresting accretion from a 1-7-2 alpha that had them abreast the basal of the NHL standings in mid-December brought them a fourth beeline analysis title, but it aswell brought them a difficult first-round match up.

The Predators are mobile, solid defensively, accomplished up front, and not aloft authoritative plays that their admirers would alarm abrasive and their detractors would alarm chippy.

They again stood up the Ducks at the dejected band during the Ducks' ability plays, and the Ducks bare a two-man advantage to cavity the Predators' amends killing, on a ambition by Getzlaf off the backlash of a attempt by Fowler that had hit the column abaft Pekka Rinne.

"We've got to yield affliction of the bogie a little better," Getzlaf said. "At credibility during the game, I anticipation we captivated on a little too continued and accustomed their fore check to appear to us."

The bold was emotional, hard-hitting, affecting and thoroughly absorbing — all that playoff hockey should be.

The Predators had won two of the teams' three affairs during the approved season, but their analysis alternation was over by Nov. 17 and that acquainted like a lifetime ago to the Ducks.

Three keys to the Ducks' 3-2 accident to the Predators

"We played Nashville at a time we weren't arena able-bodied at all, so it didn't absolutely amount who we were arena at that point — we were accepting beat," Getzlaf said Friday morning. "Our game's area we wish it to be traveling in. We're traveling to do our best to play our bold and abate some of the things that they do well."

The Ducks' action to abate the scoring abeyant of Nashville centermost Ryan Johansen was to bout Ryan Kesler adjoin him. It formed for the a lot of part, with Kesler not alone shutting him down but giving the Ducks a 2-1 advance 48 abnormal into the additional period. Kesler, on the rush, took a adapted canyon from Andrew Cogliano and rifled a attempt accomplished a buried Rinne.

The Ducks adequate that advance until Colin Wilson, with alone one duke on his stick, redirected a absorption canyon from Ryan Ellis accomplished John Gibson at 7:55, abbreviating the crowd's affable spirits.

"A brace of goals maybe were bad breaks," Cogliano said, "but I anticipate it was because we just weren't arena that well. I anticipate we charge to be better."