RALEIGH, NC – The Carolina Hurricanes and the Nashville Predators faced off on Friday night in a gritty, tough-hitting, physical matchup. In a game that saw players drop their gloves multiple times, the Hurricanes were able to put the Predators away, defeating them 4-3.
The Hurricanes are now 8-2 over their last 10 regular-season games against the Predators. At home, Carolina is 17-4-2 this year.
Andrei Svechnikov’s third-period goal on the power play was not his only one in the game. His second goal of the third period came with under a minute remaining on an empty net to ice the game for the Hurricanes. The goals were Svechnikov’s 21st and 22nd of the season.
Svechnikov continues his incredible season, as he is the only player in the NHL with 10+ goals, 10+ assists, and 50+ hits since January 1st. He also had an assist in the game.
Goalie Frederik Andersen had a strong night for Carolina, routinely making impressive stops throughout the game. Struggling a bit towards the end of the game, he still stopped 28 of 31 shots on the night, en route to his second win in his last four games in goal. The win pushes his career record against Nashville to 11-2.
Andersen has been a huge part of Carolina’s success this season and is now 15-2-2 in his last 19 games.
Strong Play All Around for Carolina
The third highest point percentage in the NHL wasted no time getting on the board. Halfway through the first period, defenseman Brady Skjei scored. The goal was his seventh of the year.
The Hurricanes consistently managed to get set up in Nashville’s zone including on Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s goal. After receiving a pass from Martin Necas, Kotkaniemi returned a rebound of his own into the net for his 10th goal of the season.
The defense had a big night, as defenseman Jaccob Slavin scored his third goal of the season and second of the game for Carolina’s defense. The Hurricanes have the third-most points per game by defensemen in the league, behind the Florida Panthers and Colorado Avalanche.
Carolina has scored more points this year by defensemen than they did all of last year, a large factor in their success this season.
Unfortunately for the Hurricanes, they lost forward Vincent Trochek to an upper-body injury early in the second period. Prior to getting hurt, Trocheck had an assist in the game – his 20th of the season. His status will be crucial as the Hurricanes are getting hot at the right time of the year.
Predators Don’t Give Up
The Predators stared down a three-goal deficit late in the third period, and after pulling the goalie it seemed like a last-ditch effort to try and salvage any points they could get.
However, taking advantage of the extra man, Filip Forsberg was able to take a ricochet off his teammates’ stick and drive it into the back of the net to cut the Hurricanes’ lead down to two. The goal was Forsberg’s 25th of the year.
Tanner Jeannot wasted no time cutting the deficit down to one, as he took advantage of a beautiful pass from Roman Josi to score his 15th goal of the season. The assist was Josi’s 38th of the year and his third of the night.
It proved to be too little too late, as Nashville ran out of steam and an empty-net goal would eventually put the game out of reach with just under a minute left.
Looking Ahead
The Carolina Hurricanes (33-11-4) will look to string some wins together as they look for their second in a row. They travel to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins (31-12-8) on Sunday, February 20th at 1:00 pm EST.
The Nashville Predators (28-18-4) will look to rebound as they look to maintain their Wild Card spot within the Western Conference. They’ll travel to Florida to take on the red-hot Panthers (33-10-5) on Tuesday, February 22nd at 7:00 pm EST.
