The Carolina Hurricanes defeated one of the NHL’s best teams in the Nashville Predators, behind four early first period goals.
On a night where the Carolina Hurricanes desperately needed a victory, that’s exactly what they got. On Dec. 21, the Canes took on the Nashville Predators, on the road at Bridgestone Arena, in the second leg of a two-game road trip. Coming off an 8-1 defeat at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Canes needed this one for the sake of their confidence.
Meanwhile, Nashville was coming off a tough loss of their own, 6-4, against the Winnipeg Jets. Pekka Rinne got the nod for the Preds, while Cam Ward got the start for the Canes. Ward’s stint between the pipes would last a lot longer than that of Rinne, though.
Carolina got off to a fast start, with three goals on their first three shots on goal. The first goal came from Derek Ryan, his seventh of the season. Ryan’s goal was assisted by Noah Hanifin and Jeff Skinner. The point parade did not end there for Ryan, Skinner, or Hanifin.
Elias Lindholm notched his 10th of the season, with assists from Skinner and Justin Faulk. That assist from Faulk gave him his 200th career point. Two other first period goals were scored by Hanifin and Victor Rask.
The goal from Rask was enough to chase Rinne from the cage. It was the worst goal that Rinne has allowed this season, and was his fourth allowed in less than seven minutes in the first period. Moreover, Rinne only had two saves on six shots before Juuse Saros made a relief appearance.
.@VictorRask's first period goal had all the bounces. #Redvolution#CARvsNSH Highlights: https://t.co/cq8HmRRgvb pic.twitter.com/wDc8WrFaEg
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) December 22, 2017
The Preds would pull within three goals, with a tip in goal from Kevin Fiala. Saaros was great through the rest of the game as well.
Here’s the takeaways from the Carolina Hurricanes win over the Nashville Predators on Dec. 21.