The Carolina Hurricanes (22-9-2) are the best team in the Eastern Conference, and they’ve shown their might in the month of December, winning six of eight games, including a five-game winning streak. They continued that momentum on the road against the Nashville Predators (13-16-4), winning 4-1. They bombarded Predators goaltender Juuse Saros with 37 shots, while their netminder, Pyotr Kochetkov, nearly earned a shutout if not for a late Filip Forsberg goal.
Game Recap
The first period was Hurricanes’ dominance, but the big number on the scoreboard didn’t show for it until 13:00, when Jackson Blake put a rebound in up close to get a 1-0 lead. Blake earned his first goal since he scored two against the same Predators team at home on Dec. 6.
The second period didn’t feature any scoring, but the Hurricanes got pretty close. Winger Taylor Hall had a breakaway on Saros, but he couldn’t lift the puck over his pads.
Scoring didn’t occur until the third period, when Predators defenseman Nick Perbix chucked the puck out of play. He was called for a delay of game penalty, giving Carolina a chance on the power play, and they capitalized, with Sebastian Aho cashing in from the low slot to make it 2-0 at 2:43.