After an encouraging end to a road trip where Carolina gave up only two total goals in the final two games, the Hurricanes gave up six goals in their first game back on home ice since Dec. 2. Sloppy defense and lackluster goaltending sunk the team 33 seconds into overtime as Carolina failed to grab both points.
With the overtime loss, the Canes (16-12-2) remain in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division with 34 points but rank sixth in the division in terms of points percentage. Meanwhile, Nashville (17-13-0) continues to play red-hot, winning 12 games out of its last 15.
“There is only one way we are going to get out of this,” said right wing Stefan Noesen. “It’s with the guys in this locker room and it’s together and doing the little things right … we have a lot of high expectations here and we are gonna turn the ship in the right way.”
The Hurricanes came out strong to start the first, but their effort quickly went south and the hosts found themselves down a goal. Just over five minutes into the game, Nashville held the puck at the blue line and was able to find the net thanks to a backhand shot from center Juuso Parssinen that trickled past goaltender Antti Raanta.
Against the Predators, Raanta made his first start since the Dec. 9 game against the Vancouver Canucks where he allowed four goals on 24 shots. The Canes’ battle with Nashville was a similar story for the Finn as he allowed six goals on 30 shots. Raanta struggled to find any sort of groove throughout the game and finished with a .800 save percentage.
“It’s just a hard position to play,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “It’s not on him. Like I said, we were not good tonight. We weren’t terrible, we had a good situation, we had it in there but everything was just a little soft, a little late, a little too easy to play against tonight.”
Despite the initial setback, going down early didn’t stop the Canes from putting intense pressure on the Nashville defense. As a result, center Martin Necas drew two penalties in the first period and gave Carolina the man advantage multiple times.
The Hurricanes didn’t waste any time scoring two power play goals less than two minutes apart. Defenseman Tony DeAngelo made his third straight appearance and was a key contributor on both power play goals.
To set up Carolina’s first goal of the night, DeAngelo found Necas who then set up center Jack Drury for a shot that was deflected in front by Noesen to tie the game at one apiece. With an assist on the goal, Drury extended his point streak to five games.
DeAngelo then notched a goal of his own on the Canes’ second power play attempt of the period. Off the faceoff draw, left wing Michael Bunting won the board battle and got it to DeAngelo, who snapped the puck from the point to send it past the netminder’s five-hole to make it 2-1 in the Hurricanes’ favor. The goal marks DeAngelo’s second on the year and his first since Nov. 7.
While the scoring in the first period ground to a halt after Carolina’s second goal, the second period saw significantly more action with both teams scoring three goals each. The six total goals in the period came in bunches of three with one set of goals coming 1:22 apart and the other set 52 seconds apart.
The first goal of the period came from Predators defenseman Roman Josi on a wrap-around chance when Raanta was caught out of position. Just a minute later, defensemen Jalen Chatfield tipped in a back post pass from Bunting to take back the lead for Carolina. Almost immediately after, center Sebastian Aho sent the PNC Arena into a frenzy as he slapped a puck past Nashville goaltender Kevin Lankinen. On Aho’s goal, center Seth Jarvis recorded his 100th career NHL point with a primary assist.
A goaltender interference penalty on Jarvis sent the Predators to the power play quickly thereafter. Left all alone in front of Raanta, Predators center Ryan O’Reilly buried a rebound on a shot from the point.
Necas responded just 25 seconds later with a goal that was gifted to him on a turnover right in front of the net. But moments later, the Canes’ lead was again cut in half by the Predators on a breakaway goal from defenseman Tyson Barrie, concluding the scoring in the period with Carolina up 5-4.
“We couldn’t quite keep up with them,” Brind’Amour said. “You can tell by all the rush opportunities we were giving up. That never happens … they played a good game and we still had a chance to win it, but it wasn’t like we needed to do.”
The only goal scored in the third period came just over halfway through the frame when Nashville defenseman Jeremy Lauzon joined the rush on an odd-man break and sent a wrist shot past Raanta’s blocker. Lauzon’s goal tied the game at five apiece and sent the Hurricanes into their fifth overtime game of the season.
Just 35 seconds into overtime, leftwing Filip Forsberg found the back of the net on a wrist shot that soared over Raanta’s glove to cement the Predators’ rally and secure them two points. With the win, the Predators extended their overtime record to a perfect 4-0 on the season.
“We didn’t have any jump, we were just late on everything, giving up lines, not tight on anything and that’s what got us,” Brind’Amour said. “I give the guys credit for trying, I could tell we were a little off, a little fatigued.”
The Hurricanes will stay in Raleigh to take on the Washington Capitals at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 17.
