Svechnikov’s 2 goals, assist lift Hurricanes
Andrei Svechnikov had two goals and an assist as the host Carolina Hurricanes beat the Nashville Predators 5-3 on Friday night.
Brady Skjei and Jaccob Slavin each had a goal and an assist, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi also scored for the Hurricanes, who improved to 2-2-2 since the All-Star break. Martin Necas and Sebastian Aho added two assists apiece.
Frederik Andersen made 28 saves.
Luke Kunin and Filip Forsberg scored for the Predators,
who are 0-4-0 since the break. Roman Josi had three assists and Juuse Saros stopped 25 shots.
Forsberg’s goal came with 5:23 remaining, just 24 seconds after the Predators pulled Saros for an extra skater. That cut Nashville’s deficit to 4-2.
It worked again on Jeannot’s goal with 2:11 remaining before Svechnikov’s empty-net tally with 41.5 seconds left.
Skjei scored the game’s first goal at 10:24 of the first period after it took the Hurricanes about nine minutes before putting a shot on goal.
Kotkaniemi collected a rebound of his own shot and scored to make it 2-0 at 5:14 of the second for his first goal in a month.
Kunin’s first goal in six games came with 1:22 remaining in the middle period. However, Slavin restored Carolina’s two-goal edge with 1 second to play in the period.
Panthers 6, Wild 2: Mason Marchment had a hat trick as Florida beat host Minnesota. Briefly: Edmonton wing Jesse Puljujarvi is expected to be sidelined for at least four weeks because of a lower-body injury, the team said on Twitter . ... Winnipeg claimed center Adam Brooks on waivers from Toronto, which had acquired him on waivers from Vegas on Wednesday. The Jets’ move came after center Cole Perfetti suffered an upperbody injury Thursday. Perfetti “is maybe a little longer than day-to-day,” coach Dave Lowry said . ... Chicago captain Jonathan Toews skated at practice for the first time since entering concussion protocols on Jan. 28, NHL.com reported, but the team offered no timetable for the center’s return.