CAROLINA HURRICANES NEWS CLIPPINGS • May 18, 2021 The Hurricanes had plenty to celebrate after Game 1 against the Predators By Chip Alexander Brett Pesce got off a shot through traffic from the right point that Teravainen, with one hand on the stick as he jostled with This was what Carolina Hurricanes fans have missed the Ryan Ellis, redirected the puck between the circles at 13:41. most. Steven Lorenz earned an assist on the goal, his first career Playoff hockey at PNC Arena. Tailgating outside. A loud, Stanley Cup playoff point. lively crowd of 12,000 inside. The game has had a physical edge in the opening period, as The pandemic changed so much in our daily lives. The need expected. for normalcy has been almost overwhelming and sports have In the second, Staal gave the Canes their first lead of the been a good respite. And especially hockey. playoffs with a tight-angled shot that Saros couldn’t stop, but For the first time since May of 2019, the Canes had playoff the Preds later tied it 2-2 in the second period. hockey at PNC Arena on Monday. The two-year wait ended With the team playing 4 on 4 after penalties to Forsberg and with Carolina, with a strong third period, beating the Teravainen, Staal took the puck into the left circle in the Nashville Predators 5-2 in Game 1 of their opening-round Preds zone. As he neared the goal line he turned and ripped Stanley Cup playoff series. a rising shot past Saros’ head at 4:19 of the second for a 2-1 “That’s hockey,” Canes captain Jordan Staal said after the lead. Pesce earned his second assist of the game. game. “For everyone, it’s been a long time coming. It’s no The Preds tied it as Haula, a former Canes forward, flipped a better feeling than playing a big game at home with the fans knuckler of a shot from the slot that got past Nedeljkovic at like that. The boys were ready, the fans were ready. Playoff 8:41. The score came after Canes defenseman Jake Bean hockey, there’s nothing better.” failed to clear the puck up the wall. The captain led the way for the Canes, scoring twice, first to The lineup give Carolina its first lead of the playoffs, then the first two- goal lead of the playoffs by any of the 16 teams still playing. The biggest pregame question Monday was the status of defenseman Jaccob Slavin, who was a game-time decision “Obviously he’s our captain for a reason,” Nino Neiderreiter said. “He leads by example on and off the ice.” Slavin did ultimately skate in warmups, and played in the game. Niederreiter’s score at 2:26 of the third period gave the Canes 3-2 lead and Canes fans were in full throat. It was Brind’Amour also was coy after the morning skate about his even louder when Staal collected the rebound of a Warren starting goalie. While Nedeljkovic was working the starter’s Foegele shot and muscled a shot past goalie Juuse Saros. crease, Brind’Amour did not commit to a starter after the skate. He said Nedeljkovic “might” start but did not rule out Andrei Svechnikov’s empty-net goal with 1:47 left in Petr Mrazek. regulation finished it off for the Canes. It was, indeed, Nedeljkovic who led the team to the ice for Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour turned to rookie goalie Alex warmups and earned the victory. Nedeljkovic on the playoff opener. Nedeljkovic fought the puck at times but finished with 22 saves. The Canes lines had Sebastian Aho centering Nino Niederreiter and Teuvo Teravainen; Vincent Trocheck “It was awesome,” Nedeljkovic said. “It was incredible. It’s centering Warren Foegele and Martin Necas; Staal at center one of the best atmospheres that I’ve ever played in front of.” with Andrei Svechnikov and Fast; and Steven Lorentz Filip Forsberg’s 27th career playoff goal in the first period centering Jordan Martinook and Brock McGinn. pushed the Preds ahead 1-0. Erik Haula, a former Canes On the back end, Slavin started with Dougie Hamilton, Skjei forward, scored in the second period for a 2-2 tie after Staal with Brett Pesce and Jake Bean with Hakanpaa. had beaten Saros with a tight-angle shot. Canes call-ups “I thought we played hard for 60 minutes and just didn’t really let up,” Brind’Amour said. “Just kind of stuck with what we The Canes on Monday recalled goaltender Antoine Bibeau, had to do. Nashville played extremely hard, I just thought we defenseman Max Lajoie and forward Ryan Suzuki from the were right there the whole way and obviously got the win.” Chicago Wolves of AHL. Forsberg scored the first goal of the playoffs as the Preds Bibeau, 27, has played four NHL games with Toronto and jumped ahead 1-0, but the Canes quickly answered on a Colorado from 2016-19, and Lajoie played 62 games with goal by Teuvo Teravainen and it was 1-1 after the first. Ottawa. Suzuki, 19, was the Canes’ first-round draft pick in 2019 and played 26 AHL games with Chicago in his first pro season. CAROLINA HURRICANES NEWS CLIPPINGS • May 18, 2021 How Canes captain Jordan Staal led the way to Game 1 victory over the Predators By Chip Alexander goal line before lifting a heavy rising shot that sailed by goalie Juuse Saros’ head for a 2-1 lead in the second period. In the Stanley Cup playoffs, games can be won with scintillating shots and sparking saves, with the game’s stars “Just finding a way to get to the net,” he said. playing like stars. Staal’s second goal was deflating for the Preds. Niederreiter But more often that not, it’s more basic than that: Games had given the Canes a 3-2 lead in the third and the Canes become a test of wills. were coming at the Preds in waves, shift after shift. So it seemed Monday, as the Carolina Hurricanes and Staal first won a puck battle with Ryan Ellis behind the Preds Nashville Predators faced off in Game 1 of their first-round net with first-man pressure on the forecheck. Canes forward series at PNC Arena. It was a gritty game, a tough game. Warren Foegele grabbed the puck for a quick shot on net The Canes were the home team and cheered on by 12,000 that Saros stopped, but Staal corraled the rebound in the low fans that goalie Alex Nedeljkovic said sounded like 24,000, slot, turned and zipped a low shot through Saros’ pads. but the Predators were playing a strong road game, a solid playoff game, keeping it tight. “He was great,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “You saw it again. It’s just what he does. He plays hard every shift. It was 2-2 after two periods and something had to give. One Whatever the situation is, you count on him.” team was going to force the other to a breaking point and gain a valuable first victory. One team would leave the ice In the first period, with both team trying to set a physical tone dejected, feeling the weight of a playoff victory that could — the Preds the aggressors, the Canes answering hit for hit have been theirs but wasn’t. — Staal made the kind of play on the penalty kill the Canes count on. He rammed into the Preds’ Ryan Johansen along This night, the game belonged to Jordan Staal and the the boards in the Canes zone, separating Johansen from the Hurricanes. In a season in which the Canes captain has puck. often been at his best, played his 1,000th career game, been voted by his teammates the Steve Chiasson Award as the Johansen was irked, skating behind Staal as both went to Cane’ most inspirational player, there he was leading the their benches, yapping away. Staal ignored him, his job way again Monday. done. And the Canes got the job done, collectively. “He’s our captain for a reason and sets the example on and “There’s going to be tight matches,” Staal said. “It’s playoff off the ice,” Canes forward Nino Niederreiter said. “He won a hockey. You’ve got to be comfortable in those situations and Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He knows what to trust in your game and not deviate from that. expect. He knows what to do. We definitely want to follow his “I thought for the most part throughout the whole game we lead.” did a good job of that. You could tell towards the end that we Staal, named the game’s first star, scored twice in the 5-2 were starting to take over the game.” victory and both were a blend of power and determination. The Canes, at least in Game 1, had won the test of wills. On the first, Staal first won a draw in the neutral zone. Taking “The guys were grinding,” Staal said. “We were comfortable a pass from Brett Pesce, he split the Predators’ Mattias being in an uncomfortable situation. We kept at our game. Ekholm and Roman Josi and took the puck almost to the We kept doing what we want to do. It ended up paying off for us.” CAROLINA HURRICANES NEWS CLIPPINGS • May 18, 2021 After a year of collective loss, Hurricanes post one very small win for everyone By Luke DeCock and getting a couple goals past rookie starter Alex Nedeljkovic.