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Tootoo, Fiddler help Predators top Ducks

Dec 9, 2007 - 5:42 AM By Jim Diamond PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Jordin Tootoo scored a goal and set up another and Vernon Fiddler recorded a pair of assists to lead the Nashville Predators to a 4-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night.

Alexander Radulov and defenseman Ryan Suter also tallied and Chris Mason made 21 saves for the Predators, who halted a two-game slide.

"We lost a couple of games in a row, so it was nice to answer back against a really tough team," Mason said. "Everybody played great for us tonight. Anytime anyone on their top two lines gets a chance, you know it is going to be a quality one. They don't just come down the wing and shoot the puck, they hold it and try to make plays. They are all very big and talented."

Tootoo had an active evening, as he completed his "Gordie Howe hat trick" with a fight against Anaheim defenseman Joe DiPenta in Nashville's first game under new ownership. The win came a day after Craig Leipold's sale of the franchise to a local group of investors was finalized Friday.

Anaheim failed in its bid to win a third consecutive game for the first time since early November.

"I hope tonight was a wake-up call for us," Ducks captain Chris Pronger said. "We've seen this happen time and again this year. We've got to look in the mirror . We've got to question ourselves and our teammates."

Tootoo scored the game's first goal at 5:52 of the opening period. Fiddler won a faceoff back to Tootoo, whose wrist shot from the top of the right faceoff circle sailed over the left shoulder of goaltender Jonas Hiller.

"That was a big faceoff win by Vern," Tootoo said. "He knows I can get the puck off pretty quickly. It was a big faceoff win by him, and fortunately, I got the shot off quick enough."

"I told him to go behind me. That was a play we were trying to do," Fiddler said. "He made a great shot. He got it away quickly without a lot of back swing. It was kind of a snap shot, and it beat the goalie."

The tally extended Tootoo's career-high total to six.

"I am getting a lot more comfortable out there, and it is giving me a lot more confidence," he said.

Radulov doubled the lead with 16 seconds remaining in the session with his sixth goal of the season. With the Predators on the power play, defenseman Marek Zidlicky's shot from the right point was redirected by Radulov in the high slot past Hiller.

Playing its third game in four nights, Anaheim looked weary in the first period, allowing 19 shots while registering just six.

"I have a feeling that fatigue is a part of everyday life as a hockey player," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "We aren't doing enough to try and compensate for that."

"I thought we had a really strong first period," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "They played last night, so we tried to get a jump on them early, and we did. It might have been our best period of the year."

After Suter gave Nashville a 3-0 bulge at 9:46 of the middle period, former Predator Shane Hnidy got Anaheim on the board less than five minutes later.

The defenseman unleashed a wrist shot from the left point the beat a screened Mason to the glove side at 14:14 for his first goal of the season. Hnidy last had tallied on January 26 while with Atlanta.

Nashville's Jerred Smithson and Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf traded shorthanded tallies in the third period.

Hiller turned aside 29 shots for the Ducks, who had won three of five.

Things could have been much worse for Anaheim, as it gave Nashville 10 power-play opportunities and allowed only one goal while shorthanded.

"We can't give teams so many power-play opportunities," Pronger said. "It's taxing on the players who kill the penalties. They're not going to stand for it in the coaches' room, and neither are we."