Predators at Hurricanes
The Nashville Predators have endured considerable troubles in overtime over the last two seasons, so it stands to reason that the club understandably is relieved after receiving a favorable decision in each of their last two games. The Predators, who began their 7-2-2 run with a campaign-best four-game winning streak, will look to match that run on Saturday when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes.
Viktor Arvidsson had two assists in Monday's 5-4 overtime victory over Winnipeg before extending his point streak to three games three nights later by tallying 65 seconds into the extra session in a 2-1 triumph at Washington. "You get more comfortable and you learn from your mistakes," the 23-year-old Swede said of the subtleties of playing in overtime. "I think we've done that, and we play it safer and take advantage of their mistakes, but you learn every game, every time you get the chances to play 3-on-3." While the Predators are clinging to a two-point lead over surging St. Louis for third place in the Central, the lowly Hurricanes have elevated out of the cellar in the Metropolitan after improving to 3-0-2 in their last five contests with a 3-1 victory over Minnesota on Thursday. Elias Lindholm set up a goal to both raise his total to a career-high 29 assists while also extending his point streak to five games (one goal, four assists).
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Tennessee (Nashville), FSN Carolinas, NHL.TV
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (35-24-11): James Neal scored a goal in his third straight contest to push his point streak to five games (three goals, two assists) and also tallied in a 3-2 shootout loss to Carolina on Nov. 5. Fellow forward Ryan Johansen leads the team with 55 points and has 15 (three goals, 12 assists) in his last 12 contests, with his next tally to serve as the 100th of his career. P.A. Parenteau could use a jolt to his game as he has yet to record a point in three contests since being acquired from New Jersey, but did score a goal in the Devils' 3-2 shootout victory over Carolina on Nov. 8.
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (29-27-12): The goaltending situation in Carolina is as cloudy as ever, with veteran Cam Ward yielding at least three goals in each of his last five starts to go along with his .894 save percentage while Eddie Lack has rebounded after drawing the ire of coach Bill Peters by turning aside 77 of the last 81 shots he's faced. "Eddie made some big saves," Peters said after the 29-year-old Lack stopped 30 shots on Thursday. "He made a sequence of three saves there at about the four-minute mark. It was a wonderful job." Ward turned in a wonderful performance in his previous meeting with Nashville, making 25 saves before denying all three attempts in the shootout.
OVERTIME
1. Nashville G Pekka Rinne owns a 6-1-1 career mark versus Carolina.
2. Hurricanes RW Lee Stempniak is riding a three-game assist streak.
3. New Hampshire senior F Tyler Kelleher, who is a Hobey Baker finalist, signed with the Predators' AHL affiliate in Milwaukee on Friday.