Hurricanes hang on, extend Predators losing streak to four

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Andrei Svechnikov had two goals and an assist, and the Carolina Hurricanes held off the Nashville Predators 5-3 at PNC Arena on Friday.

Brady Skjei and Jaccob Slavin each had a goal and an assist, and Frederik Andersen made 28 saves for the Hurricanes (33-11-4), who had lost four of their previous five. Martin Necas and Sebastian Aho each had two assists.
"It was a close game," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "Both teams played really hard, especially early. 'Freddie' made some real big saves in there at crucial times."

Roman Josi had three assists, and Saros made 25 saves for the Predators (28-18-4), who have lost four in a row.
"There's times and places to be able to make plays," Nashville coach John Hynes said, "but when you don't have speed and you don't have support and you don't have numbers on the puck, and you're getting checked the way that we were getting checked, we weren't able to get to the game that we wanted to regularly. So those are some areas we'll address."
Skjei gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 10:24 of the first period when he took a touch pass from Necas near the left wall following a face-off, drove to the net and scored on a backhand off the right post.
"I just made a read and found some open ice," Skjei said. "I took it to the backhand, which I think was the right play, and then put it in."
Skjei has scored seven goals in 48 games this season, one short of his NHL career high. He scored eight in 2018-19 (78 games) and 2019-20 (67 games).
"Because he can skate so well, he has the ability to get up in the rush," Brind'Amour said of the defenseman. "It's skating that got him that goal. He got down the wall and made a nice little move. He's been good all year. It's nice for us to see him score but it's not surprising."
Jesperi Kotkaniemi made it 2-0 at 5:14 of the second period when he scored in the slot on the rebound of his own shot.
Luke Kunin cut it to 2-1 with 1:22 left. He took a pass from Ryan Johansen in transition and scored on a snap shot from the high slot.
Slavin pushed the lead to 3-1 with one second left. He scored from the left face-off circle off a pass across the slot from Svechnikov.
"In the second period, we didn't play the game that gives you the best chance to win regularly," Hynes said. "We were trying to make plays when plays weren't there. They had a lot of juice and they wound up scoring late in that period, but they also had lots of other opportunities."
Svechnikov made it 4-1 on the power play at 6:43 of the third when he took a pass from Teuvo Teravainen and scored from the right circle. Svechnikov has scored nine points (six goals, three assists) in his past five games.
"It's awesome when you're doing those things," Svechnikov said. "I try to focus on the hard work. That's what it's all about. And if I'm going to be rewarded, I will be happy."

Nashville pulled Saros with 5:47 remaining and cut it to 4-2 24 seconds later when Filip Forsberg scored from the left circle. The Predators scored again with the extra attacker to make it 4-3 with 2:11 left when Tanner Jeannot deflected Josi's point shot.
"We were down three there and if we can get one, we can get right back into it," Forsberg said. "We were able to do that. I thought we did a good job [getting] guys to the net. … That's something we can take with us."
Svechnikov scored a power-play goal into an empty net with 42 seconds left for the 5-3 final.
NOTES: Nashville defenseman Mark Borowiecki sustained an undisclosed injury in the first period. Hynes did not have an update. ... Josi has eight assists during a five-game point streak … Saros is 1-7-1 against Carolina. … The Predators matched their longest stretch without a win this season. They were 0-3-1 from Jan. 13-18. ... Johansen's assist gave him 500 NHL points (164 goals, 336 assists) in 755 games. … Carolina forward Vincent Trocheck (upper body) did not play after the first period. Brind'Amour said he does not believe the injury is serious. … Andersen tied Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the NHL wins lead with 26. Andersen is 11-2-0 against Nashville. … With 371 points (166 goals, 205 assists), Aho passed Geoff Sanderson (369) for sole possession of ninth place on the Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers points list. Aho has 17 multipoint games this season.