Carolina Hurricanes Earn a Point in Overtime Loss to Nashville Predators

The Carolina Hurricanes earn a point in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Nashville Predators in their first game of 2016. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period 

CAR Goal (8:58) – Victor Rask (11), assisted by Jeff Skinner (6), Phil Di Giuseppe (5)

The Hurricanes strike first as a result of great passing and chemistry from the third line forwards. Victor Rask received a nice back-hand pass from Phil Di Giuseppe in transition and then fed it to Jeff Skinner. Skinner went straight to the front of the net with the puck and stopped right in front of Pekka Rinne to try and avoid his poke-check, then left the puck for a trailing Victor Rask who scored.

2nd Period

NSH Goal (12:35) – Paul Gaustad (1), assisted by Mattias Ekholm (9), Miikka Salomaki (2)

Nashville strikes back with a shorthanded goal to tie the game 1-1. The Predators won a faceoff in the Canes’ zone and kept control of the puck long enough to get it to Mattias Ekholm at the point. Ekholm took a slap shot which was tipped on the way to the net by Paul Gaustad.

3rd Period

No Goals

Overtime

NSH Goal (3:09) – Mattias Ekholm (5), assisted by Filip Forsberg (16), Ryan Ellis (13)

The Predators took home the extra point as Mattias Ekholm drove to the net and buried it past Lack. It was a bit of a defensive breakdown for the Canes, and Nashville took advantage of it.

Three Stars

1st Star – Mattias Ekholm, D (NSH) – 1 goal, 1 assist, +1, 1 shot, 4 hits, 20:52 TOI

2nd Star – Jeff Skinner, LW (CAR) – 0 goals, 1 assist, 0, 3 shots, 16:28 TOI

3rd Star – Paul Gaustad, C (NSH) – 1 goal, +1, 2 shots, 5 hits, 10:57 TOI

Recap

The Carolina Hurricanes came into tonight looking to get their first win of 2016. They fought hard throughout the game against a tough defensive Nashville team, but lost 2-1 in the 3-on-3 overtime period.

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The Nashville Predators started the game by testing the Canes with a lot of physicality. They laid hit after hit on the Canes, but the Hurricanes team remained resilient and answered right back with some hits of their own and a goal shortly after. Almost halfway through the first period, Victor Rask scored what would end up being the Hurricanes’ only goal of the game.

The second period consisted of a short-handed Nashville goal from Paul Gaustad, his first goal of the season.

The third period was a very defensive one and there were no goals from either side. The Canes did have a very late offensive push, but was ultimately unsuccessful due to a clock-expiring save from Pekka Rinne.

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Mattias Ekholm was able to secure the win for the Nashville Predators in overtime with a snipe past Eddie Lack.

Overall, it was a very defensive game from both teams that could have gone either way. The Predators got the better chance first in overtime, and Ekholm took full advantage.

Eddie Lack played a solid game, stopping 19 of 21 shots. He can’t be faulted for either goal as the first one was tipped and the second one was a great chance from a high-danger area. Lack is now 4-0-2 in his last six starts and is really competing for the starting job in net.

Pekka Rinne was very good tonight, despite his recent struggles on the road. He stopped 27 of 28 shots, including a lot of clutch saves in the final minutes of the third period and in overtime.

Phil Di Giuseppe left the game in the second period after tumbling into the boards with a Nashville Predator and he did not return. Hopefully it is nothing serious and he will be alright.

One positive note for the Canes this game was their penalty kill which was 4 for 4 tonight. Their penalty kill has been extremely good of late and there have been no signs that this is going to stop any time soon.

Overall, this is not exactly the start to 2016 that the Hurricanes wanted, but they will take the point in this hard-fought game and move on. If the Canes continue to play this well defensively and continue to get solid goaltending from Eddie Lack and Cam Ward they will win games and climb the standings.

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The Carolina Hurricanes are now 6-3-2 in their last eleven games. They will look to get a win in their match up with the Edmonton Oilers (16-21-3) on Monday night.