The Nashville Predators and Carolina Hurricanes combined for six goals in a frantic second period, but Filip Forsberg scored quickly in overtime to secure a 6-5 win in Raleigh
The Nashville Predators returned to the ice after two days off to take on the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena. This game was Carolina's second game in a back to back — they won on the road in Detroit Thursday night. Tonight Antti Raanta got the start in net for the Hurricanes.
Nashville announced shortly before puck drop that Kiefer Sherwood would be out with an upper body injury. Luke Evangelista, who looked to be a healthy scratch tonight, slotted in the lineup. Kevin Lankinen got the start in net for Nashville in this first game of a back to back.
The first shots of the game belonged to Carolina, but it was Nashville who got on the scoreboard first as Juuso Pärssinen scored with a relatively anticlimactic goal. Pärssinen softly cleaned up a rebound, and the puck slipped past Raanta at 5:20.
At 8:37 Alexandre Carrier headed to the box for a hook, and at 10:23 Stefan Noesen tipped the puck past Lankinen for a power play goal. Carolina took the lead on their second power play chance as Yakov Trenin took a seat in the box for a trip. Tony DeAngelo wasted no time scoring on a shot from the point at 12:13.
The period ended with Nashville on the power play as Brent Burns sat for holding Juuso Pärssinen, but the Predators couldn't capitalize on the man advantage before the period wrapped up.
Play returned to five a side ten seconds into the second period, but Nashville continued their offensive pressure. Roman Josi tied up the game at 3:47 with a wraparound goal to beat Raanta. The Hurricanes answered back at 4:50 with a back door goal by Jalen Chatfield. Just nineteen seconds later a turnover in the defensive zone gave Sebastian Aho a goal and Carolina a two goal advantage.
Midway through the period Seth Jarvis sat for goaltender interference, and at 9:26 Ryan O'Reilly cleaned up a loose puck in front of the net to make it a one goal game again. Less than a minute later, Alexandre Carrier turned the puck over in the slot and Martin Necas scored on Lankinen to make it a 5-3 game once again. Nashville quickly answered back as Tyson Barrie scored his first goal of the season at 10:18 to make it 5-4 at the end of frantic second period.
The third period opened with more back and forth action. Gus Nyquist struggled off the ice early after a collision with Stefan Noesen but was able to return to the ice a few minutes later. Phil Tomasino had three quality chances in a row midway through the third, but Raanta made the save while Ryan McDonagh rang a shot off the pipes as well.
A break out led to the tying goal for Jeremy Lauzon at 10:57 with assists from Luke Evangelista and Juuso Pärssinen. Both teams pushed to get the late lead in regulation, but the game headed to overtime.
Ryan O'Reilly won the overtime faceoff, and Filip Forsberg scored the overtime winner just :35 seconds in.