Canes unleash record barrage of shots, but Preds goalie stands tall in Nashville’s win
Carolina Hurricanes fans had several things to cheer Thursday at PNC Arena.
Forward Max Pacioretty made his Hurricanes debut. That got a big hand.
Canes forward Andrei Svechnikov was chosen for the 2023 NHL All-Star Game. Another big hand.
And Nino Niederreiter was making his return to PNC Arena with the Nashville Predators. The former Canes winger was given a video tribute that was well-received by an appreciative home crowd.
What the crowd really wanted was to celebrate a victory, but that did not come as the Predators took a 5-3 victory and handed the Canes a second straight regulation defeat.
The end result seemed almost inconceivable looking at the final statistics: the Canes with a franchise-record 67 shots against Preds goalie Juuse Saros. Carolina had 54 scoring chances, including 27 “high-danger” chances, according to Naturalstattrick.com. And scored three times. And lost.
“We played a good game. I’m not going to put any negatives on this,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Aamour said. “You’ve got to win the game. We didn’t. You’ve got to bury those.
“You’ve got to give credit where credit’s due. That guy played as good a game in the net as you’re ever going to see. That’s the story.”
Saros’ 64 saves — 28 in the third period — were both a career high and franchise record, allowing Nashville to escape with the road win. Mark Jankowski’s deflection of a Ryan Johansen shot at 5:06 of the third gave the Preds (17-14-6) the lead, and they sealed the win by killing off a penalty late in the third before an empty-net goal by Colton Sissons.
The Canes (25-8-6) scored go-ahead goals three times in the first two periods — Paul Stastny, Brady Skjei and Jordan Staal converting. Three times, the Preds promptly tied it.
Pacioretty, recovered from an Achilles tendon injury, got 16:06 of ice time Thursday — 5:11 on the power play — in his first game, and played with some snarl.
“He was better than I thought,” Brind’Amour said. “He looked like he was right away ready to go.”
Other takeaways from the game
▪ It will be Svechnikov’s first All-Star game appearance. Likely the first of several.
▪ Saros played like an All-Star (He also was announced as a selection Thursday). His career high in saves before Thursday was 49 against Florida in 2021.
▪ Didn’t take long for Pacioretty to get involved. His first shift as a Hurricanes came 1:30 into the game and was used on the first power-play unit, ripping a shot from the right circle. No. 67 plays with an edge.
“He looked great. Big body, shoots the puck really hard, makes good plays,” Staal said. “Nice to see him back. He’ll be really good for us.”
▪ Stastny had an aggressive, active night, giving Saros fits around the crease. Stastny scored in the first and could have had a few more goals as he constantly got good position and good looks.
Stastny lost his helmet in the Nashville zone during the third. But the veteran calmly collected it, then his stick and nearly set up a goal for the Canes.
▪ Either Brady Skjei or Brett Pesce easily could be all-stars. Pesce’s sharp pass to Skjei and Skjei’s quick release in the slot gave the Canes a second-period goal, Skjei’s seventh. They work so well together.
Pesce single-handedly defused a breakaway by Johansen late in the second, getting back to knock the puck away from behind.
▪ Preds defenseman Mattias Ekholm, a big guy at 6-4 and 215 pounds, tried to rough up Martin Necas and Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the first period. At one point, Necas was knocked into the Nashville bench.
Kotkaniemi later was called for embellishment after reacting to a hit from Ekholm. The thunderous boos from Canes fans were instant feedback on the call.
▪ For those wondering, the 67 shots by the Canes topped the franchise record of 65 set in March 1984 when the Hartford Whalers beat Toronto 5-3.
▪ Kochetkov gave up three goals on the first 12 shots he faced. He didn’t seal the short-side post on the first one and Filip Forsberg, an elite sniper, made him pay on the power play. The rookie did not look very comfortable in the crease.
▪ The Canes never held a lead long. Three times, the Preds answered Carolina within a few minutes as Forsberg, Ekholm and Cody Glass scored.
“We took a couple of breathers there where we didn’t quite bear down and boom, there’s the game,” Brind’Amour said.
This story was originally published January 5, 2023 at 9:53 PM with the headline "Canes unleash record barrage of shots, but Preds goalie stands tall in Nashville’s win."
