Ducks rally past Predators in 3rd, set NHL comeback record

NASHVILLE -- Adam Henrique scored late in the third period to give the Anaheim Ducks a 3-2 comeback win against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday.

Henrique tipped in Urho Vaakanainen’s point shot at 16:09 to break a 2-2 tie.

The Ducks (9-6-0) became the first NHL team to have six third-period comeback wins through the first 15 games of a season.

“Just resilient,” Vaakanainen said. “We didn’t play our best game, but we knew we had a chance to win. I guess it’s been a trend this year. We’ve kind of had to fight back every game, but we’ve got so much skill that we know we can do it.”

Radko Gudas had a goal and an assist for the Ducks (9-6-0), who scored twice in the third for their second consecutive win. John Gibsonmade 29 saves.

“I’ve been saying it all year, you need to get secondary scoring from your [defensemen],” Anaheim coach Greg Cronin said. “Gudas and Vaakanainen, the unlucky guys to generate that offense, but they did it. I don’t really care who does it as long as we get the support from our [defensemen] offensively.”

Juuse Saros made 17 saves for the Predators (5-10-0), who have lost four straight and six of seven.

“It’s game management, understanding where we are in the game,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “We lose a little bit of focus on some of our systematic responsibilities. We go a little bit rogue and part of that is we’re not mentally sharp. We’re not grasping the big moments in games. The last five minutes, after we score, after they score, late in the third period, and it’s cost us. It’s cost us way too much so far this year.”

Gudas tied it 2-2 at 4:11 of the third period on a shot from the slot on the rush on a pass from Troy Terry. It was Gudas’ third goal.

“If everybody is pulling from the same rope, I think it showed at the end of the game that we’re not quitters here at all,” Gudas said. “It’s a great feeling for the locker room to be able to come back, but we’ve got to learn also how not to go down first. If we can do that, I think we’re going to be even more of an efficient team than we are right now. But we’ll take the comeback wins right now.”

Filip Forsberg gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 1:03 of the second period on a rebound of a shot by Alexandre Carrier. Forsberg swatted the puck out of the air twice from the crease and got it over the shoulder of Gibson for his seventh goal.

Roman Josi made it 2-0 at 14:28 on a slap shot on the power play. He received a pass at the top of the left face-off circle from Gustav Nyquist and beat Gibson on the glove side for his third goal.

“It’s not fun to lose,” said Josi, the Nashville captain. “I think we’ve got a couple days now. We all need to look at our game. I think every single one of us has got more to give. We’ve just got to find a way to win.”

Cam Fowler scored for the Ducks to make it 2-1 at 17:28 of the second on a wrist shot from the right face-off circle. He received a cross-ice pass from Frank Vatrano and beat Saros for his second goal.

NOTES: Ducks forward Leo Carlsson, the No. 2 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, did not play because of rest. Henrique took his place on the top line with Terry and Alex Killorn. … Predators forward Tommy Novak will miss 4-6 weeks because of an upper-body injury. Cody Glass took Novak’s place on a line with Kiefer Sherwood and Luke Evangelista and had two shots on goal in 16:29 of ice time.