Preds Start Slow, Can't Recover Versus Canes

Jeff Skinner scored twice and the Nashville Predators fell to the Carolina Hurricanes by a 4-2 final on Saturday night at PNC Arena. The result ends Nashville's three-game winning streak, keeping them at 81 points on the season.
Carolina outshot Nashville on the evening and had the better portion of the chances as the game went on, and a late push from the Preds wasn't enough to find an equalizer.
Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette cautioned prior to Saturday's game that Carolina was one of the more dangerous teams in the League at the current point in time, and he reiterated that fact after the final horn.

"What I thought might happen, happened," Laviolette said. "They were quicker than us, they were harder in the areas than we were, they got themselves a lead and they made it difficult to generate offense. Their speed was a factor, we didn't play as fast as they did. They were able to get a lead and stay on it."
Jordan Staal only needed 29 seconds to redirect a puck past Juuse Saros for a 1-0 lead, and Skinner gave the Hurricanes a 2-0 advantage before the first period was out.

Viktor Arvidsson gave Nashville life when he scored at 5:38 of the second stanza from a nearly impossible angle, sending a shot from the goal line in off Eddie Lack's pad and over the line for his 26th of the season. But nine minutes later, Skinner added his second of the evening to give Carolina a two-goal lead once more before the period was out.
Filip Forsberg made things interesting with an extra-attacker goal late in regulation, but Carolina added an empty-netter to finish things off.

"We knew it was going be a tough game," forward PA Parenteau said. "We knew what we were getting ourselves into, but maybe we didn't believe it."
From here, the Predators head back to Nashville to prepare for a three-game home stand, and they'll have this result in the back of their mind as they do so.
"We let two points out the door tonight, so we shouldn't just dust it off like it's nothing," Laviolette said. "We have to be better than what we played tonight. I don't think it was good enough."
"We've been playing some good hockey lately… We played a great game in the last game and got a good result, and tonight wasn't our night," center Ryan Johansen said. "We know what we need to do to make it successful, and we just didn't do it enough tonight. We'll be ready next game."

Notes:
Colin Wilson, who missed Thursday's game with a lower-body injury, returned to the lineup on Saturday. Craig Smith was among the scratches for Nashville against the Hurricanes.
Viktor Arvidsson's goal extended his point streak to four games, including three goals during that span.
The Predators return to Bridgestone Arena to begin a three-game home stand on Monday when they host the Arizona Coyotes, followed by Calgary on Thursday and San Jose on Saturday. The stretch will feature Military Appreciation Week, presented by Ford, with
more information here
.