The Carolina Hurricanes are picking up steam heading into the stretch run of the season. Following a 4-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday at PNC Arena, the team is now 4-0-2 in its last six games and continues to keep hope alive with 13 games to play.
Forward Jeff Skinner picked up a pair of goals to add to his team-leading total with his 24th and 25th tallies of the season, and defenseman Jaccob Slavin continued his strong run of play with two assists.
Goalie Eddie Lack put up another strong performance for the Canes (30-27-12), stopping 27 of 29 Predators (35-25-11) shots and making key saves at key moments of the game for his second win in a row.
“For sure, this is the best that I’ve felt this year,” Lack said. “I’m seeing the puck really well and working good. I felt like it was a little more of desperation last game. I felt like I was a little more in control today. That’s where I want to be.”
The Canes got off to a lightning-quick start to this game; forward Jordan Staal tipped in a point shot from Slavin for a 1-0 lead just 29 seconds into the game. Slavin’s two helpers against Nashville give the second-year defenseman 25 on the season, and 10 points in 10 games during the month of March.
“For myself, it’s just playing defense first and seizing the opportunity when it comes on the offensive side,” Slavin said. “Playing with Faulker [defenseman Justin Faulk], you’re going to have a lot of offense just with how skilled he is on the offensive side. I’m just trying to get the most of the opportunity there just to put pucks on net and take the opportunity when I can.”
Skinner pushed the Canes lead to two about nine minutes into the first; he took a pass from forward Lee Stempniak at the left circle and sniped a shot over Nashville goalie Juuse Saros’ glove to make it 2-0.
The Predators cut the lead in half about six minutes into the second, as forward Viktor Arvidsson beat Lack with a sharp-angle shot out of the corner to make it 2-1.
Skinner showed off his impressive hands to put the Canes back up by a pair with about five and a half minutes to go in the middle frame; he picked up the rebound of a Slavin point shot in tight quarters in front of the net and put it past Saros on his backhand to make it 3-1.
“I think you just try and contribute to wins,” Skinner said. “That’s the reason why you play the game is to win. Whatever your role is you try and do it to the best of your ability. For me, that’s to produce offensively. It’s always nice to be able to contribute to a win and do your part.”
Skinner came inches from the hat trick on an early third-period power play, rifling a shot off the crossbar from between the circles.
The Canes came up with another grade-A chance at a three-goal lead a few minutes later, as forward Sebastian Aho made a beautiful pass to forward Teuvo Teravainen on a two-on-one rush, but Saros flashed the pad to deny Teravainen’s one-timer.
“I thought we were dangerous,” head coach Bill Peters said. “I thought we could’ve had more than three and the empty netter. I thought we had really good looks. I liked the way we managed the puck; I thought we played very well. I thought we got contributions from all four lines. We started the game on time; we started periods on time. The guys were ready to play.”
The Predators closed to within a goal with 1:49 to play and Saros off for an extra skater; forward Calle Jarnkrok made a sharp cross-ice pass to forward Filip Forsberg at the right circle, whose one-timer found twine to make it 3-2. Canes forward Victor Rask took a slashing penalty after the goal, giving Nashville a power play with a chance to tie the game.
However, the Canes’ penalty kill held up, and with Saros once again off for the extra attacker, forward Elias Lindholm salted the game away with an empty-netter with 25.6 to play.
The win moves the Canes within shouting distance of the playoff picture, sitting seven points back of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot with a game in hand. With the home stand wrapped up at 2-0-1, Carolina hits the road for four-straight games, starting with a big matchup in Philadelphia Sunday night against the Flyers.
Hurricanes goalie Eddie Lack stops a shot from Predators forward Colton Sissons in the first period. Lack faced 29 shots in the Canes 4-2 victory over Nashville in PNC Arena on Saturday.
