A 43-save performance from Justus Annunen helped pave the way for the Nashville Predators as they shutout the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center Tuesday, April 7.
After a disappointing loss against the LA Kings in a shootout Monday, the Predators [37-31-10] rebounded on all cylinders, scoring five unanswered to hand the Ducks [41-32-5] their fourth-straight loss. Joakim Kemell tallied his first two career assists; and Ryan O'Reilly and Erik Haula recorded two points.
Annunen, the game's first star, posted his third career shutout and the team's first since Jan. 3, 2025. His 43 saves are the most made this season, tied with Juuse Saros. It's also the most he's made this season, surpassing his previous total of 39.
"I thought Big Juice was outstanding, especially early in the first," Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. "We've had a lot of [shutouts] that slipped away and they weren't going to let this one go for Big Juice. He's been put in real tough scenarios. We haven't played our best in front of him and tonight I think they all wanted to get him a shutout."Nashville Predators YT
"We were sacrificing body and good sticks there. It was a great effort," Annunen said. "It wasn't always perfect, but we got battling and got the result."Nashville Predators YT
First period scoring was dry, but the shooting wasn't. Annunen faced 12 shots. Nashville struggled to produce shot volume of its own with only five finding the net. However, the Predators rallied in the middle frame with 14, tying Anaheim in period shooting.
Erik Haula struck first for Nashville thanks to a nice pass from the rookie Kemell. Haula extends his point streak to four games, tallying five in that span. Filip Forsberg stretched his point streak to five games (5g, 3a) with a snipe on the power play. Brady Skjei scored his third of the season while shorthanded with a minute left in the period.
The Preds saw their final two goals scored by their youngsters with Zachary L'Heureux and Fedor Svechkov rounding it out. Kemell notched his second primary assist of the night on L'Heureux's wrister.
Nashville's penalty kill came up big, killing off six penalties including two coinciding in game's final four minutes. A strong performance awarded the team with two points in the standings, putting it back in a wild card position.
"There is a lot of guys who want to win a lot and every game is like playoffs for us right now," Kemell said. "It just talks about our commitment and discipline inside the group."Nashville Predators YT
The team rounds out its road trip with a Thursday night game against the Utah Mammoth. Utah holds the season matchups 2-1. Nashville has a chance to even the series and make a push to narrow the gap for the first wild card spot from Utah.
"We got another road game and we're going to approach it the same way we approach all of them," Brunette said. "We know Utah's a really good team and a team we're chasing. We want to put our best foot forward their next game."Nashville Predators YT