Predators play their way into playoffs by beating Hurricanes
The Nashville Predators played like a team that desperately needed to win.
The Carolina Hurricanes played like a team that wanted to win.
In this game, desperation was the difference. The Predators played their way into the Stanley Cup playoffs Saturday with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over the Canes at Bridgestone Arena.
The Predators (30-23-2) will face the Hurricanes in the opening round of the playoffs as the No. 4 seed in the Central Division. The Canes (36-11-8) clinched the division and the No. 1 seed on Friday when the Dallas Stars beat the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Luke Kunin scored the first two goals for Nashville and workhorse goalie Juuse Saros made it stand up with 21 saves in besting the Canes’ Alex Nedeljkovic. Morgan Geekie scored his third goal of the season with 10:53 left in the third for the Canes off a Steven Lorentz pass, but that was all Saros allowed.
Kunin beat Nedeljkovic with a backhander with 7:33 left in the second, then with a forehand wrister at 7:41 of the third. Erik Haula had an empty-net goal with 1:03 left in regulation for the Predators.
The Canes had a 13-game point streak end Saturday as they failed to set a franchise record. It was the first loss to the Predators this season after six victories and the Canes’ first regulation loss since losing 3-1 to Detroit on April 12.
A preview of the playoffs? Maybe and maybe not. The Preds needed it more Saturday and was playing on home ice. The Canes will have the home ice-ice advantage in the playoffs.
A bigger concern for Carolina was having defenseman Jaccob Slavin leave the game after the first period with a lower-body injury.
The physical play increased in each period and was at a playoff level by the third period, when the hits and checks were frequent.
The Canes pulled Nedeljkovic for a sixth attacker with two minutes left in regulation.
The Canes and Predators close out the regular season Monday at Bridgestone Arena. Then, they’ll go at it again in bigger games.
Second period: Kunin scores for Preds
Luke Kunin has the game’s first goal and the Predators a 1-0 lead after controlling the pace of play and puck possession much of the second period.
Kunin scored his ninth of the season with 7:33 left in the period, beating Alex Nedeljkovic with a quick backhander after breaking down the slot past defenseman Brady Skjei and taking a pass from Mikaeal Granlund. The goal came 17 seconds after Granlund won a faceoff in the Nashville zone.
A bigger concern for the Canes was playing without defenseman Jaccob Slavin. He played eight shifts in the first period but during the intermission break was ruled out of the game with a lower-body injury.
The Canes have been outshot 20-15 through two periods and have had 12 shots blocked. The Canes’ top line of Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov has generated little offensively.
First period: goalies shine
The first 20 minutes of the game was mostly about watching goalies Alex Nedeljkovic of Carolina and the Preds’ Juuse Saros do good work.
And good penalty killing. The Predators had two power plays but could not score. The Canes had one but could not score and had trouble trying to get set up in the zone.
The Preds had the edge in shots (9-7) and scoring chances (9-6) while both team had three high-danger chances (naturalstattrick.com). The Preds also had 12 hits to the Canes’ 3 in an increasingly physical first period.
Game setup: Canes have more to do
The Hurricanes have won the Central Division.
The Presidents’ Trophy? Still to be determined.
The Canes spoiling the Predators’ playoff chances? Still to be determined.
With two games left in the regular season, both against Preds, that’s what left for the Canes. The Dallas Stars beating Tampa Bay on Friday decided the No. 1 seed -- the Canes secured it with 80 points. It was time to pull out the championshio T-shirts and several Canes gladly showed them off in a tweet.
The Canes (36-10-8) have a two-point lead over the Vegas Golden Knights in the duel for the Presidents’ Trophy, awarded to the team with the most points in the regular season. Vegas has played 53 games, one fewer than the Canes, and hosts the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
“It’s still one more thing that’s out there,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Saturday morning.
Then there’s the matter of who the Canes will face in the opening round of the playoffs. Should Nashville win in regulation Saturday, the Predators (29-23-2) will secure the No. 4 seed and face Carolina. Should the Preds lose, it’s still a battle with the Stars for the fourth spot.
Brind’Amour was asked Saturday about his team’s approach for the last two games. The Canes are 6-0-0 against Nashville this season.
“If you’re in the lineup, you’ve got to go full speed ahead,” he said. “We want to put our best foot forward. You’ve got to play your game and you’ve got to do it right so we’re not picking up some iffy habits going into the playoffs.
“There’s a good chance we’ll be playing the same opponent and that’s a whole different dynamic. It’s an interesting couple of games.”
The Canes have points in their last 13 games (9-0-4), the longest active streak in the NHL and tied for the longest point streak in franchise history -- the Canes also were 9-0-4 in March 2017.
The lineup
Brind’Amour said Alex Nedeljkovic, who has beaten the Preds twice this season, would be the starting goalie in Saturday’s game. Nedeljkovic will play his 23rd game and seek his 16th win of the season, which would be a team high — James Reimer has won 15.
No other lineup changes were anticipated. Forward Jordan Martinook, who has missed the past eight games with a lower-body injury, was at Saturday’s morning skate alternating on the fourth line with forward Max McCormick.
Forwards Brock McGinn (upper-body injury) and Cedric Paquette (lower-body) continue to be sidelined -- McGinn will miss his 18th straight game and Paquette his fifth.
McCormick, who was placed on NHL waivers Friday, cleared waivers Saturday.
