RALEIGH, N.C. — Carolina Hurricanes fans had some things to cheer Thursday at PNC Arena.
Forward Max Pacioretty made his Hurricanes debut. That got a big hand.
Canes forward Andrei Svechnikov was chosen for the 2023 NHL All-Star Game. Another big hand.
And Nino Niederreiter was making his return to PNC Arena with the Nashville Predators. The former Canes winger was given a video tribute that was well-received by an appreciative home crowd.
What the crowd really wanted was to celebrate a victory, but that did not come as the Predators took a 5-3 victory and handed the Canes a second straight regulation defeat.
Mark Jankowski’s deflection of a Ryan Johansen shot at 5:06 of the third gave the Preds (17-14-6) the lead. With goalie Juuse Saros making a career-high 64 saves, Nashville escaped with the road win, killing off a penalty late in the third and getting an empty-net goal to seal it.
The Canes (25-7-6) scored go-ahead goals three times in the first two periods — Paul Stastny, Brady Skjei and Jordan Staal converting. Three times, the Preds promptly tied it.
The Canes made it a busy night for Saros, putting a season-high 67 shots on net. But Saros made the tough stops and weathered the game-long onslaught for his third straight win.
Pacioretty, recovered from an Achilles tendon injury, got 15:39 of ice time Thursday — 5:11 on the power play — in his first game, and played with some snarl.
Other takeaways from the game
— It will be Svechnikov’s first All-Star game appearance. Likely the first of several.
— Saros played like an All-Star (He also was announced as a selection Thursday). His career high in saves before Thursday was 49 against Florida in 2021.
— Didn’t take long for Pacioretty to get involved. His first shift as a Hurricanes came 1:30 into the game and was used on the first power-play unit, ripping a shot from the right circle. No. 67 plays with an edge,
— Stastny had an aggressive, active night, giving Saros fits around the crease. Stastny scored in the first and could have had a couple of more goals and he constantly got good position and good looks.
Stastny lost his helmet in the Nashville zone during the third. But the veteran calmly collected it, then his stick and nearly set up a goal for the Canes.
— Either Brady Skjei or Brett Pesce easily could be all-stars. Pesce’s sharp pass to Skjei and Skjei’s quick release in the slot gave the Canes a second-period goal, Skjei’s seventh. They work so well together.
Pesce single-handedly defused a breakaway by the Preds’ Ryan Johansen late in the second, getting back to knock the puck away from behind.
— Preds defenseman Mattias Ekholm, a big guy at 6-4 and 215 pounds, tried to rough up Martin Necas and Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the first period. At one point, Necas was knocked into the Nashville bench.
Kotkaniemi later was called for embellishment after reacting to a hit from Ekholm. The thunderous boos from Canes fans was instant feedback on the call.
— Canes fans continued to boo Ekholm in the second period. Nor did they like the big D-man scoring after a Nashville faceoff win in the Canes zone.
— Kochetkov gave up three goals on the first 12 shots he faced. He didn’t seal the shortside post on the first one and Filip Forsberg, an elite sniper, made him pay with his 15th goal. The rookie did not look very comfortable in the crease.
— The Canes never held a lead long. Three times, the Preds answered Carolina within a few minutes as Forsberg, Ekholm and Cody Glass scored.
