Recap: Aho, Canes Roll Past Predators

Sebastian Aho netted a hat trick to lead the Carolina Hurricanes past the Nashville Predators, 6-3.
Aho, who will make his first career All-Star appearance later this month, also recorded an assist for a four-point afternoon, and his linemates Micheal Ferland and Teuvo Teravainen each posted a pair of assists in the Canes' seventh win in their last eight games.
Here are five takeaways from Sunday afternoon in Raleigh.

One
The Hurricanes are rolling.
Seven wins in their last eight games. Chasing the starting goaltender in four of those games. Scoring three or more goals in all seven wins. Saves from their netminders when they need them. Contributions up and down the lineup. Good bounces. Hanging and beating some of the top teams in the league. It's all coming up Canes right now.

"Same players, same system," Aho said. "Maybe we do the little details now, and we're doing them right all the time."
"There was a time that we were playing really good hockey, but nothing was going our way," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "I give the guys credit, and our leadership group, they're the ones that are continually pushing the message. They're leading by example."
Two
No. 20 scored Nos. 19, 20 and 21 today, as he continues to show why he's one of the league's elite, young talents and a deserving All-Star selection.
Aho opened the scoring in the first period on a breakaway, as the Canes got some unintentional assistance from the linesman, who clipped skates with Predators defenseman Roman Josi. That allowed Aho to chase down the puck in open ice, and he beat countryman Pekka Rinne five-hole for his 19th goal of the season.

No. 20 scored his 20th goal just 20 seconds after the Predators cut the Canes' 2-0 lead in half in the second period. Off a rebound from a Teravainen shot, Ferland dished a backhand pass from the slot to Aho, who fired the puck over the reaching glove of Rinne to restore the Canes' two-goal lead.

"Great response there. A huge goal for us," Aho said. "That was a great play. That's not something you practice. That just shows how good a player [Ferland] is."
"If there was a rebound coming, I knew Fishy was going to be somewhere back there," Ferland said. "I just threw it there, and it was right on his tape."
Aho completed the hat trick shorthanded with 3:01 left in regulation, as he took a chip pass from Teravainen, turned on the jets around P.K. Subban and deposited the puck into the empty net.
Hats flying for the 21-year-old's second career hat trick.

As Aho walked into the room following his first-star bench interview, his teammates swayed their arms and chanted "A-HO," just as the video board prompted the crowd late in regulation. And the leadoff song in the weight room? "Hip Hop Hooray," of course.
"Coming to the rink and just having fun, that's the biggest thing," Ferland said.
In crossing the 20-goal threshold, Aho becomes the fourth player in franchise history to score 20 goals in each of his first three NHL seasons, joining Ron Francis, Sylvain Turgeon and Kevin Dineen.
Three
Ferland set the tone for today's matinee with a quick toss of the mitts with Austin Watson just over eight minutes into the game.
And by quick, it was indeed quick. Ferland got in three good shots and dropped Watson on the third, a right square to the jaw.

"With an early game, it will get everyone going in the building on both benches," Ferland said, before turning to his daughter, Brynlee, who he was holding in his right arm. "Did you see daddy's fight? You don't like when daddy fights, though, eh?"
"Be ready, right on time. Ferls, he was ready. You could tell," Aho said. "He showed all of us that we've got to be ready early in the game."
"That's old school, right there," Brind'Amour said. "He's been really good these last few games. I think that really just set the tone for our group."
Four
Justin Williams extended his goal streak to five games (6g), equaling a career-long, and his point streak to seven (6g, 1a) with a pinball power-play tally in the second period that stretched the Canes' lead to four.
The sequence began with a one-timer off Aho's stick that was blocked by Watson. The puck deflected over to Ferland in the slot, and he bumped it ahead with his right leg. Williams whacked at the puck with a backhand that bounced in off the skate of Mattias Ekholm and chased Rinne from the crease.

The bounces are going the Canes' way right now. About time, right?
"Just sticking to the game plan. We haven't changed the way we play," Ferland said. "We're still shooting pucks. Roddy told us to change nothing and keep playing the way we've been playing. We're finally getting bounces."
Five
A hodgepodge of random goals, notes and quotes to wrap this up.
Late in the first period, Saku Maenalanen scored a goal on his fellow countryman to boost the Canes' lead to two goals. From behind the goal line, Justin Faulk fed a pass into the slot for Maenalanen to one-time glove side on Rinne.

"He's been really good," Brind'Amour said of Maenalanen. "He's fit in. He looks like he belongs in this league. That's what we need, obviously, guys to contribute up and down the lineup."
Lucas Wallmark also netted a goal, a beauty of a bar down shot blocker side on Rinne to give the Canes a 4-1 lead in the second period.

Petr Mrazek made 20 saves to improve to a perfect 7-0-0 in his career against the Predators.
The Canes are now 7-0-2 in their black third jerseys this season, and they'll wear them again in their next two home games (Jan. 18 vs. OTT and Feb. 1 vs. VGK).
Up Next
The Hurricanes head back out on the road to challenge the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.
"We're not where we need to be yet, but we're trying to get there," Brind'Amour said.