Troy Terry had the puck, the play and an extension of his 16-game scoring streak on his stick in the closing minutes of the Ducks’ game against the Nashville Predators Monday night. He had time and space in a powerplay in the third period. He let his shot go wide and hit it from the right goal post.
Terry failed to score the equalizer and extended his scoring streak by a microscopic margin. An inch to the left and the puck lands at the back of the net instead of ricocheting out of danger. An inch to the left and the Ducks could have forced the game into overtime.
Instead, the Ducks suffered a 3-2 loss to the Predators at Bridgestone Arena, their second defeat in a row after a winning streak of eight games leading them to the top of the Western Conference standings. Their streak ended in a 2-1 home loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.
“It’s not like anything I think of when I’m out there,” Terry told reporters in Nashville when asked about the end of his 16-game streak, the third longest in Ducks history behind Corey Perry’s 19 games. row and Teemu Selannes. 17 matches. “I am almost relieved.
‘It was obviously going to end at some point. The great thing for me now is just to prove that it was not just a striped thing. I was not good enough in that match (Monday) and it turned out. I need to be more into making a difference every night. Going forward, I have to show that it was not just this one streak. ”
Rickard Rakell scored a goal in the first period on his return to the Ducks’ lineup after a 10-day hiatus due to a left shoulder injury, leveling the score at 1-1 to 5:47 in the second period. Jamie Drysdale equalized to make it 2-2 with a pinball that was shot by two defenders at 3:47 in the third period.
Terry was on the ice after Drysdale’s goal, a perimeter shot from near the right point. He did not score a goal or assist for the first time since the opening night on Oct. 13 against the Winnipeg Jets. He had 12 goals and 10 assists during his streak and moved among the NHL’s scoring leaders.
In fact, he almost equalized to 3-3 after Yakov Trenin put Nashville ahead 3-2 at 12:10 in the final period after the Ducks failed to retain control of the puck in the neutral zone. Ryan Johansen and Mikael Granlund (power play) also scored for the Predators, and Juuse Saros made 29 saves.
Ducks coach Dallas Eakins had no update on left wing Adam Henrique, who was forced out of the game after the first period due to an unspecified upper body injury. Eakins was forced to mix and match his lines in the final two periods without Henrique, who only played 6:20.
Whether it was the absence of Henrique or the Predators’ close defensive play after Nashville led 1-0 midway through the first period, ducks never appear to be in sync until the third. They struggled to create sustained pressure and seemed too often disconnected from each other.
“It was great desperation,” Eakins said of their game in the third period. “It’s just a pity that it took us until the end of the match to return to our good habits. We came and went in a way in the match where we had our solid team play. Then we had times when we were free entrepreneurs out there.
“It does not work very well.”
GROULX, RECALLED LINEN
Ducks called center Bo Groulx and right wing Vinni Lettieri of the San Diego Gulls of AHL. None of them were in line Monday, but one could play Wednesday against the Colorado Avalanche if Henrique is unable to play due to his upper body injury.
