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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- It's going to be an uphill battle for the
Nashville Predators if they expect to make the playoffs for the
first time. Rookie Marian Cisar has given them a sudden burst of
offense toward that goal.
Cisar and Vitali Yachmenev scored power-play goals and Mike
Dunham earned his sixth career shutout Wednesday night as the
Predators beat the Anaheim Mighty Ducks 3-0.
"He's a big man, he's got great skills around the net and he's
got good hands. And we need his talents," teammate Cliff Ronning
said of Cisar. "He's staying modest and he's not worrying about
what he's doing. He's playing for the right reasons. He's playing
for the team to win."
Cisar tipped in Ronning's slap shot from the right circle midway
through the second for his 11th goal and fifth in six games. It
came after Anaheim's Jim Cummins was assessed a roughing penalty
and got two more minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.
"We got lucky," said Ronning, who also set up Yachmenev's
goal. "I took a shot and it hits Cisar's stick and goes in. I
mean, how is the goalie going to stop that? It was kind of a fluky
one, but we'll take it."
Rookie Denis Arkhipov also scored for the Predators, who ended a
seven-game winless streak against the Ducks and sent Anaheim to its
sixth straight defeat.
The Predators concluded the most successful month in the
franchise's three-year history with an 8-8-0 record, while setting
a club mark with their 14th road victory.
Ducks captain Paul Kariya, who missed 16 games with a broken
foot before returning to the lineup last Friday, played his first
home game since Dec. 17. He was welcomed back by a crowd of only
10,961 -- the smallest at the Pond in the Ducks' eight-year history.
"We're in a big tailspin right now, but I don't have any
answers," said Marty McInnis, who returned to the Anaheim lineup
after missing three games because of a slightly strained groin.
Yachmenev opened the scoring with his 12th goal, converting
Ronning's centering pass in the first period during a two-man
advantage. It was the seventh straight game in which Nashville
scored the first goal (5-2-0).
The Predators, who entered as the NHL's least-penalized team at
11.2 minutes per game, had to defend against a 5-on-3 Ducks power
play early in the second period. But Dunham turned aside all five
shots. He made 26 saves in all.
"When they scored on their 5-on-3, it put a lot pressure on our
power play to produce," Kariya said. "We had 40 seconds to get it
done, but we didn't come through."
The Ducks, last in the Western Conference and missing five
regulars, are 2-15-2 in their last 19 games, including six straight
home losses. They have only five goals in their last five games,
and are 0-for-18 on the power play in their last four contests.
Game notes
The Predators' family is still coming to grips with the
knowledge that coach Barry Trotz's newborn son Nolan has Down
syndrome. In their first game after finding out, they were outshot
36-9 in a 5-1 home loss to Colorado -- but followed that with a 5-2
win at Phoenix and presented an emotional Trotz with the game puck.
... The Ducks have been shut out seven times, twice more than last
season. ... Teemu Selanne went an entire game without a shot on net
for the third time this season.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Nashville Clubhouse
Anaheim Clubhouse
RECAPS
Toronto 4
Carolina 3
Detroit 3
Columbus 2
NY Rangers 4
Montreal 2
Florida 5
Buffalo 2
NY Islanders 3
New Jersey 2
Philadelphia 5
Pittsburgh 1
Edmonton 3
Chicago 2
Nashville 3
Anaheim 0
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Nashville uses the two-man advantage to their advantage with the Vitali Yachmenev goal.
avi: 978 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Denis Arkhipov gets the puck past Guy Herbert to cap off a 3-0 win.
avi: 1018 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Teemu Selanne Official Site
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