Andrei Svechnikov scored with six minutes remaining in the third period to break a tie and help the Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-2 victory over the host Nashville Predators on Saturday night.
Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen stopped 38 shots in his second victory of the season with his new team.
Jesper Fast scored Carolina’s first goal and Teuvo Teravainen stretched the margin to two goals with 1:12 remaining with an empty-net goal. Brett Pesce notched two assists.
Ryan Johansen and Filip Forsberg scored for the Predators, who have started the season with consecutive home losses.
Forsberg’s goal came with 44.7 seconds to play, with Johansen collecting an assist on the play.
Goalie Juuse Saros made 29 saves for the Predators.
The Hurricanes, who were beginning a three-game road trip, weathered several challenging stretches. They managed only eight shots on goal in the second period.
The Predators were 0-for-4 on power plays.
Carolina was denied on a 5-on-3 power play in the first period. It also was scoreless on four overall chances with a man advantage.
Svechnikov has three goals this season. His goal came when Pesce began the rush by getting the puck out of the defensive zone, before Martin Necas delivered a pass to set up Svechnikov.
It was a bit of redemption for Svechnikov because of an earlier blunder.
Nashville drew even on Johansen’s backhander following Svechnikov’s turnover in the second period.
Saros made several impressive stops to keep the Hurricanes from building any momentum. One of those came on Carolina captain Jordan Staal’s attempt in the second period.
Fast notched the game’s only first-period goal for his second goal in as many games. Both teams put 14 shots on goal in the opening period.
This was a rematch of last season’s first-round playoff matchup — with the Hurricanes advancing — when both teams were in the Central Division in the pandemic-reconfigured alignment.
–Field Level Media
