Members of the Predators and Ducks watch a scuffle from the bench Wednesday. (Jeff Gross/Associated Press)

Same Spot, Different Season

For the second straight year, the Nashville Predators find themselves in this position. They've won Game 1 on the road of their first-round playoff series. The question now is how they respond to this pressure? Last year, the Chicago Blackhawks came back and eliminated Nashville in six games. Whether the Predators learned any sort of lesson from that series remains to be seen. But they were very business-like after the game.

"It's one game," Predators head coach Barry Trotz said. "The whole thing is about winning four of seven.

"It's a good start."

The Fisher King

The Predators acquired Mike Fisher to help them win in the playoffs. He got off to a roaring start with two goals and an assist. Both goals were high wrist shots on Anaheim netminder Dan Ellis. It was a very Fisher-like game. He finished with a plus-2 and won 53 per cent of his draws. Going back to the regular season, Fisher has 11 points in his last eight games. During that stretch, he is a plus-8.

"His game is made for playoff hockey," Predators defenceman Shane O'Brien said. "He is an extremely hard worker and plays both ends of the ice extremely well.

"He has found his scoring touch here. He's going to be huge for us.

"He's a true pro. Great guy in the room and we're lucky to have him and, hopefully, he can continue to put the puck in the net for us."

The Big Line?

Give the advantage to Shea Weber and Ryan Suter after Game 1. Anaheim's big line of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan were limited to one assist. It was a secondary helper on Teemu Selanne's 5-on-3 goal.

"They want to have Suter and Weber out against Getzlaf, Perry and Bobby Ryan," Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle said. "We worked a little bit tonight on getting away from that.

"We had our chances to play against other people. But what happened was we weren't very good in the faceoff circle.

"When you lose the faceoff, the other team has the opportunity to execute."

This was somewhat true.

The Predators won the faceoff battle 53 per cent to 47 per cent. But it seemed like Perry spent more time fighting with Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne than trying to use his deft scoring touch around the Nashville net. Rinne had an easy way of tuning Perry out.

"Kind of let it go inside the other ear and let it come outside the other one," Rinne said. "Just don't pay too much attention to that type of stuff."

Rinne's Big Toe

Being 6-foot-5 has its advantages. For Rinne, one of those involves the length of his legs. He used this in making a big save on Selanne midway through the first period. Saku Koivu passed the puck to Selanne, who appeared to have an open net on top of the goalmouth. As he deflected the puck toward Nashville's net, Rinne stuck his toe out and pushed the puck wide.

"He had a lot of room," Rinne said. "Koivu made a nice pass and I was just able to get my leg there.

"Obviously, got a little lucky there. But that felt good."

Plays 'n Scores

The decision to play Steve Sullivan was not an easy one for Trotz. The forward had played in just one game since Feb. 24 after undergoing groin surgery. But the veteran rewarded Trotz with a goal late in the second period to make it a 2-0 game. Sullivan came in on Anaheim goaltender Dan Ellis on a partial breakaway and scored on the rebound.

"That was the one thing before for making that decision [to have surgery]," Sullivan said. "I couldn't come out of the blocks.

"It was always sore. Now with the surgery, I'm not feeling it, so when I turn and want to fire, it responds."

Goaltending Change?

When a goalie gives up four and gets yanked at the start of the third period, unless he's one of the elite stoppers, there's always a chance he won't start the next game. Ellis gave up the four and Ray Emery relieved him early in the third period. Following the game, Carlyle hinted to the Orange County Register that Emery may start in Friday's Game 2.

"That was the plan if things didn't go our way in the third period," Carlyle told the Register. "We were going to give him some minutes because there's always the option of using him.

"He hasn't seen the net in a while. If you ask any goaltender, they'd like to see the net a little bit before they get an opportunity to play, so that gives us another option for Friday."