Aho scores twice, Hurricanes top Predators for 5th straight win

NASHVILLE – Sebastian Aho had two goals and an assist in a 4-1 win for the Carolina Hurricanes against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday.

Jackson Blake had a goal and an assist, and Andrei Svechnikov had two assists for the Hurricanes (22-9-2), who have won five straight games. Pyotr Kochetkov made 25 saves.

“I thought we had a great game,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I thought in the first period, we probably deserved a little more. We did everything we needed to do, just only got one. The second was kind of ‘Eh, whatever.’ There wasn’t much happening. We did have a couple of good looks. Their goalie kept them in it, and I thought our guy played great in the third when we needed it. Good goaltending performances for both teams, but I thought we were good tonight.”

Filip Forsberg scored, and Juuse Saros made 33 saves for the Predators (13-16-4), who have lost two of their past three.

“We know what kind of team they are,” Forsberg said. “They’re obviously a hard forechecking, shoot everything type of team. The shot clock is always going to be a little lopsided when they come in here because they shoot from literally everywhere, but I don’t think we were breaking out really well. We kept getting pushed back in, which obviously one of their strengths is their forecheck and their tenacity on the walls.”

Blake gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 13:00 of the first period, scoring off the rebound of a shot from Logan Stankoven on a loose puck in the crease at the left post.

“It’s a great play by [Stankoven] just to get it to the net,” Blake said. “I got a pretty fortunate rebound there, just right to my stick and clapped it in. And then the power-play goal, [Aho], just a great shot by him. Playing with [Stankoven] and [Nikolaj Ehlers], that’s been a lot of fun. I think we’ve been generating a little bit and building as a line."

Aho made it 2-0 at 2:43 of the third period with a power-play goal on a wrist shot from the slot.

Seth Jarvis ripped a one-timer from the left face-off dot for a 3-0 lead at 4:33.

“We need that line to get on the board,” Brind’Amour said. “They didn’t have their best game going and then all of a sudden in the third period, get a power-play goal and then obviously a good empty-netter. I thought it was another one of those wins that you can go up and down the lineup and you’ve got 20 guys that were doing their job.”

Forsberg scored for the Predators to make it 3-1 at 8:06, backhanding a rebound with his back to the net from low in the slot.

“I didn’t think we did a great job going back for pucks,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “I didn’t think we moved our feet. I think we just threw pucks away. When you throw pucks away, they’re going to slam the boards.”

Aho added an empty-net goal to make it 4-1 at 19:15.

Predators forward Jonathan Marchessault and Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook both left the game in the second period because of a lower-body injuries and did not return.

NOTES: Kochetkov improved to 6-1-0 in eight games played this season. ... Hurricanes forward Eric Robinson finished with five shots on goal and nine shot attempts in 15:03 of ice time. ... Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin played his second game in a row after missing 29 games because of a lower-body injury. He had one shot on goal in 16:47 of ice time. … Forsberg has four goals in his past two games.