(The Nashville Predators’ Matt Irwin slams the Anaheim Ducks’ Ryan Kesler into the boards at Bridgestone Arena on Sunday. Photo courtesy of John Russell/NHLI via Getty Images.)
The Nashville Predators Sunday ended the Anaheim Ducks’ hot streak, by beating the visitors decisively, 5-2, in front of 17,167 at Bridgestone Arena, the first of five stops on the Ducks’ road trip.
Anaheim had entered the contest with wins in two games in a row, points in four straight, and as one of only three teams with a winning record in the weak Pacific Division. But the Predators changed all of that on Sunday by dominating the Ducks on both ends of Bridgestone’s ice. Afterward, Anaheim defenseman Brandon Montour reflected on what had gone wrong:
“Games like this, especially against Nashville, you want to come prepared and be ready right off the hop,” Montour reportedly said. “We were not. They got a couple of quick ones there, and we couldn’t get our way back.”
Anaheim might have lost that match before it had ever started. Before the faceoff, the Ducks announced that they had returned rookie defenseman Josh Mahura to the San Diego Gulls. Brilliant. Anaheim had gone 2-0-1 with Mahura in the lineup, so yeah, let’s send him back to the minors. In his place, the Ducks recalled terrible Andrej Sustr who I had warned about in this article back in October:
“I am not jazzed about the play of newcomers Luke Schenn and Andrej Sustr.”
Since that time, Anaheim had sent both targets of my ire to the AHL, but on Sunday, inexplicably swapped red hot Mahura for proven failure Sustr, and guess what happened next? Sustr was nowhere to be found on the Predators’ first goal when not one, but two Nashville players were left all alone in front of Anaheim’s net, and were permitted several whacks each at the puck. Where in the world was terrible Sustr? He is supposed to be the big 6′-7″ stay-at-home defensive defenseman, but on that goal he failed to stay at home. He had left the home wide open for prowlers. Watch the replay, and look for no. 62. He’s the big clown that got exposed big time on that ridiculous goal:
(Footage courtesy of NHL.)
How the heck does he leave two attackers wide open in front of the crease even after the initial shot was taken? Sustr did not cover the original shooter nor did he cover the two rebounders. And for that the Ducks got rid of Mahura, and their points streak that had gone with him. Pathetic.
In somewhat related news Sunday, the same genius Anaheim front office returned Maxime Comtois to the 19-year-old’s junior team in the Quebec league. WTF, I ask? When Comtois left the lineup due to an unfortunate injury last month, the young star was at that time Anaheim’s leader in scoring and assists, and was second on the team in hits. Among all NHL rookies, he was tied for the lead in assists, second in points, and first in hits. He had a great chance of winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year. But no, the Ducks send him back to juniors. Folks, you cannot make up that stuff.
Can we please fire the general manager already? Sheesh.
For Nashville, Austin Watson who scored that goal that exposed terrible Sustr went on to record a hat trick to lead the Predators to victory. Former Anaheim center Nick Bonino and Craig Smith each added a goal for Nashville, while Adam Henrique and Ondrej Kaše each scored for the Ducks.
With the loss, Anaheim returned to .500 with a sorry record of 10-10-5 for only 25 points after 25 games. The Los Angeles Kings did a big favor Sunday for the Ducks by defeating the Edmonton Oilers in regulation, thus leaving the division with only two .500 clubs, with the Vegas Golden Knights being the other. Vegas has also earned 25 points after 25 games, but the Knights enjoy a huge advantage in the first tiebreaker which is number of ROWs, 11-8. Thus, Vegas holds the Pacific’s third seed while Anaheim fell to no. 4. The four teams seeded fifth through eighth are now each below .500.
With Sunday’s win, Nashville improved its winning percentage to .729, tied for tops in the NHL with the Tampa Bay Lightning, who oh by the way, the Ducks visit next, on Tuesday. Can you imagine that? Anaheim starts its five-game road trip by visiting the two best teams in the league? I want to know who scheduled that. Until then, Let’s Go Ducks !!
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