Jonathan Marchessault had two goals and an assist and the Nashville Predators have won back-to-back games for the first time since October by defeating the visiting Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 on Monday night in the final game before a three-day holiday break.
Steven Stamkos, Ryan O’Reilly and Mark Jankowski also had goals for the Predators, who’ve won four of their last six games. Filip Forsberg provided three assists and Juuse Saros made 25 saves.
Jordan Staal and Sebastian Aho scored for the Hurricanes, who lost two of three road games going into the midweek layoff. Dustin Tokarski took the loss in goal, allowing four goals on 24 shots. It was just his second appearance for Carolina.
The Predators went 3-0-1 on their homestand.
Marchessault, who has scored in four consecutive games, provided the game’s second goal and later added an empty-net goal to finish the scoring and push his season total to a team-high 12. It marked his second two-goal game of the season, with both of those coming within a two-week span.
The Hurricanes, who usually produce a high number of shots, were limited to 14 pucks on the net across the first two periods combined. The offensive chances picked up in the third period.
The teams combined for four goals in less than six minutes to begin the final period.
Nashville boosted its lead to 4-0 with goals by O’Reilly on a power play and Jankowski at 30 seconds and 2:52, respectively, into the period.
Those were two of only four shots on goal in the period for Nashville until the empty-net tally with less than four minutes remaining.
The Hurricanes closed the gap back to two goals in a hurry with Staal and Aho in a 40-second span that ended at 5:17 of the third.
The Predators placed forward Cole Smith on injury reserve earlier in the day with a lower-body injury that will keep him out for at least a month.
–Field Level Media
