Hurricanes’ Jordan Martinook suffers lower-body injury in win over Predators appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Carolina Hurricanes kept their winning streak rolling with a 4-1 road win over the Nashville Predators on Wednesday. However, the victory came at the cost of forward and alternate captain Jordan Martinook, who exited the game in the second period with a lower-body injury and did not return.

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Carolina had to adjust after Martinook’s injury, moving Eric Robinson from the fourth line to the third, where he spent 15:03 on the ice and got off five shots. Should Martinook miss additional games, Jesperi Kotkaniemi is likely to return to the bottom-six role.

Martinook has been in Raleigh since the 2018-19 season, and he’s been a reliable presence on the checking line, teaming up with Jordan Staal and William Carrier to keep things steady. In 33 games this season, the Alberta native has collected 11 points with four goals and seven assists. He is coming off a career-high 36-point season in 2024-25, which included 15 goals and 21 assists across 79 games. Martinook’s NHL career includes 753 regular-season appearances, where he has scored 99 goals and added 145 assists for 244 points. He has also contributed 33 points, including eight goals and 25 assists, across 76 Stanley Cup Playoff games, all with Carolina.

The Hurricanes were in charge on Wednesday, outshooting Nashville 37-33 and keeping the puck in their favor for much of the matchup. Pyotr Kochetkov made 25 saves, earning his sixth win in eight starts this season, while Juuse Saros stopped 33 shots for the Predators.

Carolina opened the scoring at 13:00 of the first period when Jackson Blake netted his ninth goal of the season, finishing off a rebound from Logan Stankoven’s initial shot. Sebastian Aho added a power-play goal at 2:43 of the third period to make it 2-0, followed shortly by Seth Jarvis converting an Aho feed for a 3-0 lead. Filip Forsberg scored a rebound for Nashville at 8:06, breaking Kochetkov’s near shutout. Aho later added an empty-net goal at 19:15 to seal the 4-1 win. Andrei Svechnikov contributed two assists, and Blake also registered a goal and an assist.

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The Hurricanes maintained their top position in the Eastern Conference with a 22-9-2 record, five points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings and New York Islanders, winning six of eight games this month. Now on a five-game win streak entirely against Metropolitan Division teams, Carolina will continue its three-game road trip in Florida. They face the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, the Panthers, on Friday before finishing the swing against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. The Hurricanes will then return home to host Florida again on December 23.