Nashville, Tenn. – The Nashville Predators and the Anaheim Ducks have been fighting for supremacy in the Western Conference for most of the season.
The Predators continued to pad their lead in the West, shutting down the Ducks 3-0 on Saturday night. It was the Predators’ second straight win over Anaheim and their first victory in regulation against the Ducks since Oct. 9, 2003.
“I think both teams are similar in a lot of ways,” Predators coach Barry Trotz said. “We both have the ability to skate, to create off the rush and the transition, and we both have good goaltending.”
Predators goalie Tomas Vokoun made 36 saves for his third shutout of the season and 19th overall. Vokoun stopped short of calling it his best outing since returning from a thumb injury Jan. 9.
“I’m getting there,” Vokoun said. “Getting a shutout is a good thing. Our guys played smart defensively. They took a lot of shots, but most of them were from the outside. We had 20 shots, but we probably had more quality scoring chances than they did.”
Vokoun started despite dealing with a flu bug that has been bothering several members of the team.
“I’m not worried about whether I am feeling great or not,” Vo-
koun said. “You can hear it in my voice. It is a work in progress. Some nights you don’t feel good and you win the game. Sometimes you feel pretty good and you lose.”
Jason Arnott scored a power-play goal and added an assist on Steve Sullivan’s power-play goal. Dan Hamhuis scored the other goal for the Predators.
