Vokoun got the win in overtime, making 27 saves on 31 shots, but head coach Barry Trotz said he's seen better.
"Tomas wasn't as sharp as he could have been," Trotz said.
Still, he gave Vokoun credit for deciding to return against the league's top team.
"He had a lot of courage and conviction to say, 'I'm ready,' " Trotz said. "He's not shy to step into big responsibility."
"I gotta take something positive out of this and that’s we won the game," Vokoun said. "I was comfortable more and more as the game went on."
Vokoun said the splint that is currently protecting his injured thumb will affect him for some time.
"Obviously, it's uncomfortable," he said. "I don't have the same strength in my stick hand. I will be forced to deal with it for a while, so I have to get used to it."
The way Anaheim and Nashville have been playing this season, it isn't inconceivable that the two would be the favorites come playoff time.
"We have two more against them to see where they are," Vokoun said. "If we want to go anywhere, this is the team to beat."
Indeed, the game was an important one for the Predators, as they wanted to see how they would match up against the Ducks, shorthanded though they were, missing defenseman Chris Pronger and starting goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, among others.
Trotz said he had absolutely no sympathy for the Ducks recent injury woes, saying Anaheim went their first 30-plus games without any injuries.
"When we played them there, we were missing [David] Legwand, Vokoun, [Jason] Arnott," Trotz said, referring to the team's 4-0 shutout loss Dec. 6.
Backup goalie Chris Mason played outstanding in Vokoun's absence, starting 21 games in-a-row for the Preds.
Mason proved it's not a case of a No. 1 or No. 2 goalie in Nashville, but rather a No. 1A and a No. 1B. Not including the Nov. 23 game, when Mason came on in the third period to finish off the shutout, Mason went 15-6 in those games, playing all but one period over that stretch.
Vokoun played much better the next game, a 2-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets in Nashville on Friday, and then picked up another win (5-3) last night against the Calgary Flames.
Even though the Predators were an outstanding team when Mason was in net, the return of a mostly-healthy Vokoun will give them arguably one of the best 1-2 goalie tandems in the league and other teams a devil of a problem come playoff time.
