Preds Conclude Homestand With Victory Over Hurricanes

The Predators weren’t about to let Pekka Rinne down on his birthday.

With the soon-to-be Hall of Famer in attendance on Hockey Fights Cancer night, Nashville defeated the Carolina Hurricanes by a 4-1 final at Bridgestone Arena. The result gives the Preds their first win streak of the season to finish their homestand with an impressive triumph over the defending Stanley Cup champions. 

Nick Perbix, Roman Josi, Adam Edstrom and Ross Colton all tallied for the Preds, Filip Forsberg had a pair of assists, and in front of his mentor Rinne, Juuse Saros made 29 saves to give the Preds a satisfying outcome. 

“There's no way [Saros was going to let Rinne down], right?” Josi said. “It's big brother here, and [Saros] was amazing. He was great. He made so many amazing saves when we needed him, and he's been doing it all year. It's pretty cool for all of us to have ‘Peks’ in the building.”

“The overall effort [was impressive],” Forsberg said. “Obviously, we knew they were going to come out hot. They always do. We had to weather the storm a little bit the first time, which I thought we did great. [Saros] made some great saves, but then after that, the remaining 50 minutes were our game and we played really good. Didn't really give up a lot, and when we did, ‘Juice’ was there and made some great saves.” 

In the opening period, Forsberg found Perbix in the right circle with a cross-ice pass, and the defenseman wristed home his first of the season to give the Preds a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes. 

“It always feels good to score in this League,” Perbix said. “I mean, it's hard to do. Fil made a great pass, and just to see it go in felt great. And apparently, you could see [my emotion], I've been told from a few people.”

In the second stanza, Forsberg did it again - this time finding Josi for the captain to beat Pyotr Kochetkov for a 2-0 advantage. The Hurricanes cut Nashville’s lead to one with a goal of their own midway through the second, but that was as close as they came. 

In the third, it was Edstrom with a masterful deflection for his career-high sixth tally of the season, and after a late Carolina push, Colton iced it with an empty-netter to seal the victory. 

“I mean, the pucks are going in,” Edstrom smirked on his success. “It's been great playing with Ross and Jack [Drury]. They're two great hockey players, and every game we're out there creating chances. It's fun seeing the puck go in the net. Hopefully that continues.”

Shane Wright made his Nashville debut on Tuesday following his trade from Seattle, and the 22-year-old forward centered Forsberg and Nils Hoglander while contributing positively to the win. 

“I thought it was good, and I think he's going to fit in really well here,” Forsberg said of Wright. “I liked our line. We were trying to stay close to each other. Obviously, first game there is a lot that's new for him, but I thought he played well. He managed the puck well, he was skating well, and he generated a couple chances for us as well.”

“I really liked the pace he played at,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said of Wright. “Kind of a little bit what I was expecting. I thought their line was good, him and Fil. I thought Fil at different times was at another level tonight, which is fun to see. And I thought Shane fit in really well. I thought the way he got on pucks and the way he skated a few of those times where he took off was good to see.”

The Predators collected points in four out of five games across their season-long homestand with wins over Colorado, Tampa Bay and Carolina - three of the League’s best. 

And while the season is only one month old, Nashville’s game has shown promise as of late. Now, they’d love to keep it going on Thursday against the Avalanche, and their effort against Carolina will certainly give the Preds another dose of confidence moving forward. 

“I think it's a constant building of your game from day to day, realistically,” Forsberg said. “But I think the last game was good. I think today was probably the best we've defended. We gave up a little bit, but they're a great team. They're going to generate a little bit, too. I think overall it was a good step in the right direction. But it will be another tough game on Thursday. That's one of the better teams as well. It's the best League in the world. We're just going to reload and do it again.”

And, of course, having Rinne in the building never hurts either. 

“Pekka is one of the all-time best goalies, but also human beings and teammates,” Brunette said. “To see when he's around, to see Roman, Fil, Juice, the guys that play with him, it just kind of uplifts them. It's almost like they don't want to let him down, which is pretty cool to see, and that's the impact that Pekka has had for this organization. That's why he's a Hall of Famer, and he's a Hall of Fame person, too.”

Notes: 

Wright won 54 percent of his faceoffs and was a plus-2 in 14:32 of ice time in his Preds debut. 

Preds forward Jonathan Marchessault missed Tuesday’s game and is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Defensemen Nic Hague and Ilya Lyubushkin were scratched. 

Per NHL Stats, Filip Forsberg (0-2—2) became the fourth Swedish player in the past 15 years to record a five-game multi-point streak, joining William Nylander (5 GP in 2023-24), Elias Lindholm (5 GP in 2018-19) and William Karlsson (5 GP in 2017-18).

Roman Josi tied Scott Niedermayer (39) for the eighth most game-winning goals by a defenseman in NHL history.

The Predators will head to Colorado to face the Avalanche on Thursday for a one-game trip before returning home to host St. Louis on Saturday afternoon.