Things went south for Pekka Rinne basically from the opening whistle. (PHOTO: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports)

The Nashville Predators have looked worse this season than they did last night against the Anaheim Ducks, but not by much. The team came out flat and never found a way to get into the game, losing long before the 5-1 decision was final.

The first goal by Nick Bonino at 2:48 was all Pekka Rinne, as he got stuck behind his net trying to play the puck and couldn’t get himself unstuck. The second one at 3:49 belonged to Shea Weber, who hasn’t looked worse all season than he did in letting Kyle Palmieri burn by him.

Palmieri would go on to score the next two in a row for the natural hat trick, but it turned out the first one was all he needed to give his team the win. Craig Smith did score for the second straight game at 9:27 of the second period, but by then the game was already over.

The only really good news is that the Nashville Predators doesn’t have to play against Anaheim for the rest of the season. And, given the way things are looking right now, they won’t have to worry about meeting the Ducks in the playoffs, either.

Some observations:

• Trotz: “Overall worst performance of the year, no question.” #preds #nhl— JoshuaCooper (@JoshuaCooper) February 28, 2013

• Paul Gaustad returned to the lineup last night and went 15-for-19 in the faceoff circle.
• 

  Rich Clune has the first two-game scoring streak of his career after assisting on Craig Smith’s last two goals. (PHOTO: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports)

  Rich Clune continues to be one of the Nashville Predators’ most potent offensive weapons, picking up his second assist in as many games on Craig Smith’s second-period goal. That’s a statement on the Preds’ offense, and it isn’t a good one.

• Chris Mason got a little work in, playing the whole third period without giving up a goal. It’s not like Anaheim sat back on their lead, either – they outshot Nashville 7-4 in the third.
• The Preds defense that was tops in the NHL earlier this month has fallen to seventh with no end in sight. They’re now allowing 2.29 goals per game, a shoddy total for a team whose starting goalie leads the league in shutouts.
• David Poile was gone from his skybox before the game was complete last night. One has to hope he was off to make a deal, because this team needs help. They’ve now lost six of their last seven games, and they’ve only scored six goals in their last four (with five of those coming Monday against Dallas).

at ANAHEIM DUCKS

February 27th, 2013
Honda Center
Anaheim, California
9:00 p.m. CST
TV: SportSouth
Anaheim leads season series, 2-0-0

Tonight the Nashville Predators meet the Anaheim Ducks tonight for the third and final time this season. It’s the first of a three-game road trip for the Preds, who have lost twice in shootouts to the Ducks so far this season.

NASHVILLE PREDATORS

(9-6-5, 2nd in Central)

After two consecutive shutout losses, the Preds responded Monday night with a 5-4 comeback win at home against Dallas. The hero of the night was Roman Josi, who scored two goals including the overtime winner. Some of that offense would be very helpful against the Ducks, who average 3.24 goals per game themselves.

Key players

Nashville Predators captain Shea Weber was the impetus for Monday’s win against Dallas. (PHOTO: Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports)

Shea Weber (3G-5A) is nearing the neighborhood of his career points-per-game pace again thanks to some strong performances this month. The one area that still hasn’t picked up for him yet is the power play, where he remains pointless through 20 games. That’s been one of the sore spots for the team as a whole, which means a Weber breakthrough would be a Nashville breakthrough.

Pekka Rinne (8-5-4, 1.90 GAA, .926 SV%) has fallen off from his pace early in the month, giving up four goals in each of his last two starts, and still has some of the best numbers of any goalie in the NHL. A rebound game from him would go a long way toward helping the Preds start another winning streak.

Roman Josi put up four points in the win against Dallas. (PHOTO: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports)

Others to watch

Roman Josi (3G-4A) and Craig Smith (2G-2A) have both shown signs of life lately after very slow starts to the season, ranking fifth and sixth on the team in shots on goal. Before the season began it was expected that both of them would contribute, so this is a good sign for the team.

Scott Hannan (0G-1A) has one of the toughest jobs on the team. He’s currently sporting a −8 rating on the year and has been victimized on some pretty nasty goals. He’s bounced around the defensive pairings more than any other Nashville blueliner.

ANAHEIM DUCKS

(13-3-1, 1st in Pacific)

The Ducks don’t shoot much more often than Nashville (27.5 shots per game to 24.6), but they score quite a bit more. Given that shooting percentage fluctuates wildly, some people are projecting a fall for Anaheim. But their luck has held up so far this year for the second-best record in the Western Conference.

Fasth has stood tall in two shootouts against the Predators. (PHOTO: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports)

Key players

Viktor Fasth (8-1-0, 2.01, .924) has been incredible in net during his rookie NHL season, but he looked very human in Monday’s 4-2 loss to the Kings. He gave up four goals on 24 shots, three of them at even strength, as the Ducks’ six-game winning streak finally came to an end.

The entire Anaheim offense has been clicking this year. Captain Ryan Getzlaf (6G-12A) leads a cast of 10 players with at least four goals, including six(!) players with five goals each.

In Finland they make durable hockey players. (PHOTO: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)

Others to watch

Saku Koivu (5G-11A) and Teemu Selanne (5G-11A) must have found the fountain of youth back in Finland during the lockout.

The best season Francois Beauchemin (2G-10A) ever had in the NHL came in 2005-06 when he scored eight goals and 26 assists. He’s currently on pace to tie that mark…in a 48-game, lockout-shortened season.

Bottom line

Anaheim has already wrapped up the season series with the Nashville Predators thanks to its two shootout wins. But the Preds could still walk away with the same number of points as the Ducks from their three games if they can win in regulation tonight. That would also help them keep pace with St. Louis and Detroit in the Central Division; even though Nashville is in second place, both teams have games in hand on the Preds at the moment.