Nashville Predators vs Carolina Hurricanes Game Two Preview, Storm Advisory & Scoreboard Update

Monday night was a special night in Raleigh as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Nashville Predators 5-2 to take a 1-0 series lead. PNC Arena saw around 12,000 rowdy Caniacs for the first time in 14 months and for one night, things felt normal again.

Now it’s time to push past the emotions of Monday and focus in on tonight’s match-up where the Canes can put a stranglehold on the series by going up 2-0. Jordan Staal led the way Monday night with a solid performance by rookie goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic. The Predators will be fighting hard to take the series back to Nashville tied at 1-1 so the Hurricanes must come out ready to play.

Game Notes

• Monday night’s game was the first game with more than 10k fans at PNC Arena since Feb. 28, 2020. Let’s just take a second and appreciate how fortunate we all are to be back to some level or normalcy.
• Jordan Staal scored two goals in a playoff game on Monday for the first time since 2012 when he scored a hat trick during a 10-3 victory by the Penguins over the Flyers.
• Steven Lorentz recorded an assist Monday, becoming the fifth player in team history to earn an assist in his playoff debut and the first to accomplish the feat since Lucas Wallmark tallied two assists in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Washington on April, 11, 2019.
• Alex Nedeljkovic’s playoff debut went quite well for the rookie goaltender as he made 22 saves on 24 shots to become only the second rookie goaltender to win a playoff game for the Hurricanes. You may remember the other guy to achieve this feat.
• Sebastian Aho needs just three more playoff points to become the fifth highest playoff point producer in Hurricanes history.
• While the Hurricanes power play was tremendous in the regular season it looked not so great on Monday going 0-4. The Canes will want to get this going tonight as they look to build momentum with the extra man.

Storm Advisory

• In case you missed it, the Canes have released an awesome video showcasing everything Carolina:

• Part of the NHL’s capacity restrictions is a regulation regarding ventilation. The Hurricanes are actively trying to get their systems upgraded to hopefully allow even more fans in the building and the Centennial Authority is helping out:

• This story came out before game one but it’s still relevant given his play in game one. Learn all about Alex Nedeljkovic’s path to the NHL, from winning the Calder Cup to getting waived this season. [The Athletic $]
• Hurricanes playoff hockey has returned to PNC Arena, and no one is taking it for granted now. [The Athletic $]
• John Hynes is defending his lineup choices for game one. [AZ]
• Reports are indicating that John Tortorella wanted out of Columbus far before the end of this season. [Forever Blushirts]
• The Seattle Kraken have apparently conducted their first official interview for their head coach position. [ESPN Seattle]
• Pour one out for our Canadian friends who are not expected to be allowed inside the arenas for the playoff games north of the border. [Sportsnet]
• Leah Hextall has been signed by ESPN to do play-by-play in a historic move. [NYP]

Scoreboard