Hurricanes slip past Predators 4-3 in shootout

By KYLE GLASER
Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — When it came time for Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen to face Juuse Saros in a shootout, they knew what to do against their fellow countrymen.

“A little bit of Finn on Finn there,” Carolina coach Bill Peters said. “They know Saros ... and I said to (Aho) ‘You own this guy?’ and he said ‘Yeah, I do.’ Teuvo said the same thing.”

Aho and Teravainen scored in the shootout and the Hurricanes earned a 4-3 victory over the Predators on Sunday.

Aho beat Saros with a wrist shot over his blocker on Carolina’s second attempt.

After Hurricanes goalie Scott Darling stopped Filip Forsberg’s second attempt for Nashville, Teravainen lifted a backhand over Saros’ left shoulder for the winner.

Josh Jooris, Victor Rask and Justin Williams scored in regulation for the Hurricanes, who snapped a two-game skid. Darling finished with 32 saves.

Viktor Arvidsson, Mattias Ekholm and Craig Smith scored for the Predators. Saros made 33 saves and Nashville had its four-game winning streak end.

“I thought they were a little quicker than us,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. “We had our looks and our chances.”

The shootout capped a back-and-forth matchup. Jooris opened the scoring in the first period when he got behind the Predators defense and finished with a nifty backhand through Saros’ legs that trickled across the goal line.

Arvidsson evened it for Nashville when he beat Noah Hanifin one-on-one near the right faceoff circle with a highlight-reel move where maneuvered the puck between his legs, and then fired a wrister over Darling’s left shoulder into the upper corner of the net.

Ekholm gave the Predators their first lead with a power-play goal midway through the second period. But Rask stuffed home a loose rebound in the crease just over a minute later to tie the score at 2-2.

Williams put the Hurricanes back on top in the third period with a power-play goal, stuffing home a deflected shot he had originally knocked down from Derek Ryan. Williams appeared to enter the crease before the puck on the play, but his goal was allowed to stand.

“It’s tough to tell,” Williams said. “I think I was where I needed to be and I was able to bang one in.”

Smith tied it for Nashville with 8:45 remaining when he found an open spot along the back post and buried a pass from Kevin Fiala.

The Predators had a chance to win on a power play in overtime, but the Hurricanes blocked four consecutive shots, including two by Joakim Nordstrom, to keep it tied.

“The penalty kill was unbelievable with those guys blocking shots,” Peters said. “That goes a long ways. That’s how you win games.”

NOTES: Rask had a goal and an assist for his first multi-point game since opening night. ... Saros recorded an assist on Arvidsson’s first-period goal. It was the Predators goalie’s second career assist. ... Hurricanes F Lee Stempniak (upper body injury) missed his 20th game. ... F Miikka Salomaki and F Cody McLeod were scratched for the Predators. ... D Klas Dahlback and F Phillip Di Giuseppe were the Hurricanes’ healthy scratches.

UP NEXT:

Predators: Return home and face the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday to start a four-game homestand.

Hurricanes: Visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday to begin a quick two-game road swing.