The Carolina Hurricanes vs Nashville Predators was a great series of hockey and it is sad to see it end. The Hurricanes finally managed to win an overtime game in Nashville. They are moving onto round two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Aho Overtime Winner Lifts Hurricanes Past Predators
In front of the largest crowd to see an NHL hockey game in 2021 (14,107) the Hurricanes silenced the always boisterous Nashville faithful. Just 1:05 into overtime Sebastian Aho tipped a Jaccob Slavin point shot past Predators goalie Juuse Saros. The goal completed a 3-1 comeback. This gives Carolina the 4-2 series win and a round two date with the defending Stanley Cup Champions, Tampa Bay Lightning. It was Aho’s fifth goal of the series and proved to be the most important at just the right time.
Fourth Straight Overtime Game
The Carolina Hurricanes vs Nashville Predators turned out to be much more than most hockey fans could have predicted. Nashville had just squeaked into the playoffs while Carolina owned the third-best record in the NHL. Carolina won the first two games of the series 5-2 and 3-0 in Raleigh, and it was looking like a boat race. Then the series moved to Nashville and the home of the Grand Ole Opry had a different tune. Back-to-back double-overtime wins by the Predators (5-4 and 4-3) had this series knotted at two. The Hurricanes kept their own home cooking going in game five with yet another overtime win, 3-2.
Heading back to Nashville for game 6, would you expect anything else but a close game? The Preds managed to take a 3-1 lead with goals from Nick Cousins in the first period and Mikael Granlund and Ryan Johansen in the second. Aho managed to pull the Hurricanes to within one before the second frame ended. The third period saw the Hurricanes come out on fire, outshooting the Predators 15-4. Nearly 14 minutes into the third, Dougie Hamilton finally managed the tying goal that would set the stage.
Keys To The Series
As in most playoffs, the key to the series was goaltending. Hurricanes goalie Alex Nedeljkovic turned away 189 shots in six games posting a 2.22 goals-against average and .922 save percentage. Not bad for a goalie who started the year third on the team’s depth chart. At the other end, Saros stopped a mind-boggling 232 shots while putting up a 2.78 goals-against average and .921 save percentage. There were spectacular and game-saving stops on both ends, in what proved to be one of the best series in these Stanley Cup Playoffs. Facing nearly 40 shots per game might have proved too much, but hats off to the Preds.
In the end, the Carolina Hurricanes proved to be too deep and talented for a very feisty Predators team. Nashville had been earmarked as trade deadline sellers up until the days leading up to April 12th. Eleven different Hurricane players scored in the series led by Aho (5 goals) and Captain Jordan Staal (4 goals). Fourth-line fixture Brock McGinn had a great series as well, scoring three goals and adding a helper. Coach Rob Brind’Amour had all four lines rolling, and this team looked the part of Central Division Champions.
A Look Ahead At Round Two
It doesn’t get any easier for the Hurricanes. Some would say it can’t get any harder. The defending champs in Tampa Bay will come to Raleigh without home-ice advantage, but no doubt as heavy favourites. The Lightning have four of the seven top scorers in the NHL Playoffs led by Nikita Kucherov (3 goals, 8assists) who never played a regular-season game. The Hurricanes will need to find a way to thwart the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs’ most potent offence. The brunt of this burden will go on the shoulders of Nedeljkovic. This one should be another Central Division classic you won’t want to miss.
Carolina and Tampa Bay split the season series, with each team winning four games. No schedule has been set for this series.
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