Mara Scores In Final 1.7 Seconds To Defeat Nashville

Added on Nov 08, 2010 by J Merrill in

NHL

The Anaheim Ducks (7-7-1, 15pts) got it going in the first 60 seconds of the game, and finished their work in the closing 2 seconds to give them a 5-4 victory over the Nashville Predators (5-5-3, 13pts.) This was a back and forth scoring affair if there ever was one. The home victory concluded a perfect 3-0 home stand for the ducks, it gave Sou Koivu(who had two goals) his 700th NHL point, and it ended Paul Mara’s 78 regular season game scoring drought.

Paul Mara couldn’t have picked a better time for it either. With 1.7 seconds left on the clock he was able to put the puck in the net, and secure the Ducks the win. “I saw there was nine seconds left, so I said, ‘Hey, we’re going to go for it,’” Mara said. “It was great to do it at home. It’s been a long time since I’ve scored a goal, so it feels good.” A long time is right! The last time Mara found the back of the net was February of 2009. He continued by talking about how they played as a team, “We had a lot of mistakes tonight, but we sneaked out a win and that’s all that matters. It’s a big confidence builder for us to win three in a row. The sign of a good team is finding a way to get a win when you don’t play your best.”

Bobby Ryan was the one who set up the play after Correy Perry got him the puck, and he was able to get it to Mara. Although happy about the win he was apprehensive with how the game played out. “It was an ugly game, certainly not one we want to put in the archives, that’s for sure.” Ryan said. “We have to do a better job in front of Hillsy and a better job managing the puck through the neutral zone. It’s something we’ll focus on.”

It was a back and forth affair, besides the second period when no one scored, every time the Ducks took the lead, the Predators would come back and tie it. Ducks coach Randy Carlyle, who was obviously happy with the win, said,”Two points is two points … we’re not going to lament any other part of it, It was one of those games that seemed like we had to work for every inch. Every time we got a lead, they came back and showed their resiliency as a hockey club. We sure kept the fans in the building, that’s for sure.”

Soku Koivu who had two goals on the night, which was the 23rd time in his career he had a multiple scoring game, said “It’s nice to get some goals and some offensive results for myself and for our line, Points are so important for us at this point. It was an exciting game for the fans.”

Nashville’s Barry Trotz coached his 915th regular-season game, breaking a tie with Montreal’s Toe Blake for the fifth-most with one team behind Al Arbour of the New York Islanders, Billy Reay Chicago Blackhawks, Lindy Ruff of Buffalo, and Jack Adams of the Detroit Redwings. This is Trotz’s 12 season, and not only he is the only coach the Predators have ever had, but he is just one season behind Lester Patrick who coached the Islanders for 13 straight seasons.

Trotz thought the game had some positive moments for the team, but admitted the way the game played out was frustrating. Trotz said after the game, “It was a really tough loss, I thought we did a lot of good things. I like the resiliency we showed, but obviously I didn’t like the outcome. We kept fighting back, but every time you catch up, they score again. It can be disheartening.”

The one thing Nashville will have to address is their power play. They were zero for four on the night, and has only scored twice on 38 opportunities in the past ten games. They will have most of the week to make adjustments as they wont play again until they face St. Louis on Thursday night.

Anaheim will have a day off to travel to face the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.