2022-23 Regular Season, Game 78: Hurricanes (50-18-9) at Nashville Predators

It took extra time for the Hurricanes to get the job done but they were able to secure two points against a very tough Ottawa Senators team that is still fighting for its playoff lives. The Canes jumped on Leevi Merilainen early in his NHL debut, scoring twice in the first period thanks to Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Brady Skjei on the power play. Ottawa fought back with the help of its stars as Claude Giroux scored his 30th goal in the second period and Brady Tkachuk scored on the power play early in the third to tie it. After neither team scored to break the tie, it would take overtime to get the job done. In the extra session, Martin Necas would find his magic once again as he snapped a wicked shot off of the post and into the net to earn the Canes the 3-2 victory at PNC Arena. It's Necas' fourth overtime-winner this season, the most in the league. Antti Raanta made 26 saves to earn a point in his 17th straight decision, extending his franchise record. The win kept their lead in the division over the Devils at three points as they inch closer to another division title. Tonight, the Canes begin a three-game road trip by traveling to the Music City for their last cross-conference game of the regular season. 

Projected Lines/Pairs

Teuvo Teravainen--Sebastian Aho-Martin Necas

Stefan Noesen-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Jesse Puljujarvi

Jordan Martinook-Jordan Staal-Jesper Fast

Jack Drury-Derek Stepan-Seth Jarvis

Jaccob Slavin-Brent Burns

Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce

Shayne Gostisbehere-Jalen Chatfield

Frederik Andersen

Antti Raanta

Injuries/Scratches- Paul Stastny (healthy), Calvin de Haan (healthy), Dylan Coghlan (healthy),

IR- Andrei Svechnikov (Torn ACL), Max Pacioretty (Achilles), Ondrej Kase (concussion)

Teuvo Teravainen will return to the lineup tonight after missing the last four games with an illness. He'll join the top line with Sebastian Aho and Martin Necas. Paul Stastny will be the healthy extra. Frederik Andersen will get the start tonight. He was last in the net on Sunday night in the team's 2-1 victory over the Islanders. He's 11-2-0 in his career against Nashville with a .929 save percentage and a 2.32 GAA. 

Tonight's Opponent: Nashville Predators (39-30-8, 86 Points, 5th in the Central)

Their road to making it is rough but Nashville is still alive in the postseason race. They currently sit three points out of a Wild Card spot and continue to defy expectations after acting as sellers at the trade deadline. They shipped off Nino Niederreiter, Tanner Jeannot, Mikael Granlund, and Mattias Ekholm and have needed to overcome injuries to Ryan Johansen, Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi, and Matt Duchene in recent weeks to remain in the fight. A lot of young players have been called up and played excellently to fill the shoes of the stars. Nashville was also in action on Tuesday night as they hosted the Vegas Golden Knights. Tommy Novak scored twice in the first period with his second goal coming on the power play to stake Nashville to a 2-0 lead after one. Alex Pietrangelo willed the Knights back into the game by scoring two goals of his own to tie the game after the second. Neither team scored in the third period as both sides picked up a point in the hopes of earning the second. Nashville drew a penalty in overtime and thanks to a fortunate bounce off of a skate, Cody Glass slid the puck past Jonathan Quick to secure a 3-2 win for Nashville to keep pace in the Wild Card race. Novak finished the night with three points and Lankinen made 30 stops to stun Vegas. 

Last Meeting v. Carolina- When these two teams met in Raleigh in early January, history was made and it wasn't the good kind for the Canes. The game originally looked like it was going to be a goal-scoring clinic with each side alternating goals through the first two periods. Paul Stastny, Brady Skjei, and Jordan Staal scored for the Canes while Forsberg, Ekholm, and Glass scored for Nashville as the game sat tied 3-3 after 40 minutes. The show would be stolen by Juuse Saros in the third period. The Canes threw everything they could at the star netminder and weren't finding any luck. Mark Jankowski would score early in the third period and Colton Sissons would score an empty-netter to give Nashville a 5-3 victory to spoil the Hurricane debut of Max Pacioretty. The Canes broke a franchise record by taking 67 shots on Saros but he responded by stopping 64 of them, tied for the third-most in a regular season game in NHL history. 

Nashville's Starting Goalie: Juuse Saros (30-22-7, 2.76 GAA, .916 SV%)- The last few starts for Saros have been a mixed bag. He's 2-3-0 in his last five and while three of those five starts have resulted in Saros allowing two or fewer goals, he has two starts where he has allowed five or more goals, including five goals in his last start against Dallas on Monday. Still, there is no denying that Saros is the key to this team's success. He leads the league in saves and shots against while ranking in the top ten in several other categories. His 2-7-1 record against the Hurricanes is a bit of a shock though his .921 save percentage in 13 appearances is less surprising. 

Nashville Player to Watch: Luke Evangelista- In the 19 games since being called up, Evangelista has been magnificent. His six goals and 13 points during this span are tied for second on the team, trailing only Novak's 19. Evangelista has looked like he's been in the league for a long time with how he's been playing. He'll be playing top minutes tonight for the Predators and could impact the game on multiple levels. He has four points in his last three games after cooling off a little, so be on the lookout for him to be a major contributor. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

(NSH) 7:47- Mark Jankowski (6) SH (assisted by Spencer Stastney (1))

(NSH) 10:47- Michael McCarron (2) (assisted by Mark Jankowski (4) & Ryan McDonagh (17))

2nd Period

None

3rd Period

(NSH) 17:18- Dante Fabbro (2) EN (assisted by Spencer Stastney (2))

Let's Talk About the Game

An excruciatingly bad start drowned the Canes tonight. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. They ran into a hot team with a goalie that is carrying the load with all of the team's stars out and he did exactly what he did to the Canes in Raleigh in January. Juuse Saros stopped everything he could see and this time he shut them out. The bad start consisted of two very unfortunate plays. First, the Canes allowed a short-handed goal after what might've been the worst start to a power play I've ever seen. Mark Jankowski carried the puck up the ice and never once thought about passing it. He beat Frederik Andersen to his glove side to give Nashville an early lead. Exactly three minutes later, Michael McCarron threw a puck at the net from a sharp angle, hitting the right skate of Andersen, and going into the net to give Nashville a 2-0 lead. The difference in this game tonight was Nashville's willingness to get their bodies in front of the puck. The Predators blocked 26 shots in the game and it started early. Saros did his part by stopping the shots that did get through and he kept Nashville ahead by two goals after the first period. 

The Canes' kill did a huge job of killing a large chunk of a penalty to begin the second period as they looked to find their game. The Predators never really let that happen. It never felt like the Canes were getting too many tough chances as Saros was catching everything and holding onto it. The Canes would find the net in the final minute of the second period with Brady Skjei uncorking a one-timer from the point to finally solve Saros. The only problem is that it didn't count. Martin Necas took a less-than-ideal route from the back of the net that saw him go through the crease and come into contact with Saros. The contact was brief but it was enough to disrupt Saros from getting his glove to Skjei's shot. The review was short. The goal was overturned. The wind was officially taken out of the Canes' sails as they failed to make up any ground in the second period. Early in the third period, Brent Burns faked out everyone in the arena by throwing a puck at the net from the neutral zone instead of rimming it around the boards. He caught Saros cheating and the puck went into the net. It was initially called a goal before the referees realized that the Canes never tagged up and were way offside. It didn't take long for that to be corrected as the Canes remained without a goal. Nashville was denied a third goal by millimeters as Tommy Novak slid a puck under the pads of Andersen but the puck sat on the goalline spinning. Jesse Puljujarvi of thwarting Ryan McDonagh's stick legally to prevent him from tapping it in as the Canes cleared it from the line. Nevertheless, the Canes couldn't find any offense. After Andersen made an amazing save to prevent an empty-net goal as he was heading off, Dante Fabbro eventually did score to make it 3-0 as the Predators won another huge game to keep them in the Wild Card race in the Western Conference. For the Canes, none of their 32 shots were able to legally beat Saros as he stymied the Canes again. 

I can't quite find the words about how I'm feeling about this loss. I'll give credit to my little brother for calling it because at 8:07, right before the puck dropped, he said that tonight was feeling like a Saros shutout. While we often make that joke before games, tonight it felt different. It felt like it was actually going to happen. He probably needs to go play the lottery next. The Predators had the perfect game plan against the Canes. They didn't allow the Canes' stars to get into the game and they made life easy for their goalie. Nashville outshot the Canes in the third period despite having a lead. This is a gutsy Nashville team. While I think they only go as far as Saros carries them if they do sneak into the playoffs, they are going to be a pain to play against for years to come. They have a world-class goalie and some incredibly special young players. For the Canes, they have to refocus and find a way to find goals in these last four games. Guys like Sebastian Aho and Necas need to continue to be the leaders but it's going to take guys like Teuvo Teravainen and Seth Jarvis snapping out of their slumps to get this team clicking on all cylinders. Tonight was a major speed bump but the world isn't crumbling yet. They're in the playoffs and there isn't going to be an easy series for them. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

No stars of the game, though I will give shoutouts to Burns and Skjei for having disallowed goals. They were the only Canes to find the back of the net tonight. Too bad neither of them counted. 

What's Next for the Canes

The Canes will look to refocus after starting the road trip with a loss. The next stop will be in Buffalo on Saturday afternoon for a 12:30 start that should genuinely be illegal. The Sabres won a barnburner tonight against the Detroit Red Wings. The two sides combined for 12 goals in regulations, six apiece, and after Detroit erased a two-goal deficit in the third period, Buffalo would win it in a shootout. Dylan Cozens recorded three points, including two goals, and Owen Power provided three assists as Devi Levi picked up this second win. From there, the Canes will play back-to-back, finishing their road trip in Ottawa on Monday before returning home to host Detroit on Tuesday. The regular season will come to an end on Thursday as they travel to Sunrise to face the Florida Panthers. 

What's Next for the Teams in the Playoff Hunt

New Jersey (108 Points, 3 GR, 1 Point Behind the Canes for 1st)- The Devils made up some ground on the Canes by blowing the Blue Jackets out of the air in an 8-1 win. This prepares the Devils for a meeting with the Boston Bruins on Saturday as the Bruins chase NHL history. 

New York (R) (104 Points, 3 GR, 4 Points Behind the Devils for 2nd)- The Rangers erased a late deficit to force overtime and earn a point but they were unable to complete the comeback, losing 3-2 in overtime to St. Louis. They'll be in Colombus for their final road game of the season on Saturday. 

Florida (89 Points, 3 GR, 1st WC, the Canes' current 1st round opponent)- The win streak is now sitting at five games for the Panthers after a 7-2 victory over the Senators tonight. They have a tough schedule to close the season, starting in D.C. on Saturday against the Capitals. 

New York (I) (89 Points, 3 GR, 2nd WC, 1 RW behind Florida for the 1st WC)- Another team in the race with a blowout win, the Islanders picked on Brian Elliot for six goals in a 6-1 win over Tampa. They'll play host to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. 

Pittsburgh (88 Points, 3 GR, 1 Point out of the Playoffs)- Despite a win over Marc-Andre Fleury and the Minnesota Wild, the Penguins were unable to jump Florida or New York tonight. They finish the season with three teams in the bottom ten of the standings, starting with Detroit on Saturday.