Nashville got off to a quick start with a goal from Luke Kunin, but it was the Hurricanes who dominated the first period. Shot attempts were 38-8 for Carolina in the frame but it took until the final two minutes of the period for the Hurricanes to draw even, with Vincent Trocheck knocking in a loose puck to tie the game.
The game evened out a bit after the first period and while the Hurricanes did have an advantage in shots in the second period as well, Nashville got quite a few good chances. The Predators took the lead back with a goal from Ryan Johansen when Alex Nedeljkovic couldn’t cover the puck. It could’ve been worse than that though, as Nedeljkovic had to make a massive 2-on-0 save only a couple minutes later to keep the deficit at a single goal. Once again, the Hurricanes tied the game with a goal late in the period, when Brock McGinn put a shot past a screened Juuse Saros.
McGinn scored his second goal of the game just 13 seconds into the third period but most of the frame was actually controlled by the Predators. Nashville tied the game just a few minutes later with a tip from Nick Cousins and had a couple more excellent chances but Nedeljkovic made some huge saves to push the game to overtime.
After a scoreless first overtime period, the game went to double overtime for the second game in a row and once again, the Predators inched out a win. With just a few minutes to go in the second overtime period, Luke Kunin got a pass in front and put it by Nedeljkovic for the win.
Despite a solid first two periods, the Hurricanes didn’t manage a lot of scoring chances after McGinn gave Carolina the lead early in the third period. Carolina also struggled to bury the chances they did have, outshooting the Predators 61-43 in the loss.
Most of Carolina’s issues also came in the form of defensive lapses. While the Predators often weren’t sustaining a ton of pressure, especially early on, defenders kept getting caught out of position, leading to a rush for the Predators.
Just looking at the shots you’d think Saros really outplayed Nedeljkovic and while Saros was certainly great, Nedeljkovic deserves some credit as well. He was forced to make about three massive saves throughout regulation that should’ve been almost guaranteed goals and if it weren’t for those saves, the Hurricanes may not have made it to overtime.
The series will now head back to Carolina for Game 5 on Tuesday.
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