Nashville @ Carolina preview
Lenovo Center
Last Meeting ( Dec 23, 2024 ) Carolina 2, Nashville 5
Since being acquired from the Nashville Predators on March 7, Mark Jankowski has made an immediate impact for the Carolina Hurricanes.
The well-traveled forward will look to show his former team a thing or two on Tuesday when the Hurricanes open a four-game homestand against the Predators in Raleigh, N.C.
Jankowski scored a goal for the second time in as many games on Sunday to help Carolina post a 5-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks. He has six goals in seven games since being acquired from Nashville for a fifth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. He scored just four goals for Nashville in 41 games.
Like Jankowski, Taylor Hall continues to make his presence known. The former Hart Trophy recipient recorded his second hat trick of the season and sixth of his career to pace Carolina (43-23-4, 90 points) to its ninth win in 10 games.
"Dynamite, really," Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour said of the 33-year-old Hall, who has 11 points (six goals, five assists) in 20 games since being acquired in a three-team trade on Jan. 24. "Every shift, it felt like he was impactful (and) all around it.
"He's been really good since he showed up here, but hadn't quite got rewarded for what he has been doing and (Sunday) he did."
Frederik Andersen has yielded just eight goals while winning his last five starts. The 35-year-old made 35 saves versus the Ducks, one day after the Los Angeles Kings shellacked his team.
"Just turning the page quickly, mentally, was the biggest thing," Andersen said of the team's quick response to that setback. "Obviously, you're going to have some games like (Saturday) when things just go against you. You're going to have that, and you're going to have to respond.
"I thought we all came ready to play. (We) turned the page quick and it feels good."
The Hurricanes likely feel good about their play at home. They have won five in a row in Raleigh to improve to 27-7-1 at home this season.
Conversely, the Predators (26-36-8, 60 points) fell to 8-22-5 away from Music City this season after dropping a 4-1 decision to the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.
Filip Forsberg scored a power-play goal to extend his point streak to four games (three goals, three assists) for Nashville, which has lost five of its last six contests overall (1-4-1).
"The second period was really good. I thought we kind of took it to them and really didn't give them anything," Forsberg said. "... Third period, I thought we came out pretty good, too. It's an even game, back and forth. They get the goal off the rush, but we're still creating a ton of chances on the power play there at the end.
"Sadly, the theme of the season, we can't get the puck to go in. If you get one of those two chances there, it's a 3-2 game, you never know what's going to happen."
Forsberg leads the Predators in goals (28), assists (37) and points (65). The 30-year-old Swede notched three assists and Jonathan Marchessault also recorded a three-point performance (two goals, one assist) in Nashville's 5-2 win over Carolina on Dec. 23.
--Field Level Media