Nashville Predators pull within a point of second wild-card spot with win over Hurricanes
Clinging to playoff hopes, the Nashville Predators looked to score a victory Thursday night against the Carolina Hurricanes, who had won three in a row, at Bridgestone Arena.
The Predators pulled to within one point of the Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames in the Western Conference wild-card race, thanks to their 3-0 victory.
Mark Jankowski's shorthanded goal with 12 minutes, 13 seconds left in the first period on a pass from Spencer Stastney put the Predators ahead 1-0. It was Stastney's first NHL point.
Michael McCarron pushed the Predators' advantage to 2-0 three minutes later. Brady Skjei's goal with 36.3 seconds remaining in the second period looked to have cut that lead in half, but the score was overturned after a review determined the Hurricanes interfered with Predators goalie Juuse Saros.
Saros had 32 saves in his second shutout of the season.
The Hurricanes cost themselves another goal with 16:01 left in the third when they were called offside.
Dante Fabbro scored an empty-net goal with 2:44 left in the third.
Nashville will face both Winnipeg and Calgary in the coming days. The Predators were coming off a 3-2 overtime victory Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Yet another Predators rookie, Jake Livingstone, took the customary rookie laps before pregame warmups. Livingstone is a 6-foot-3, 205-pound defenseman from Minnesota State.
The Predators reassigned defenseman Kevin Gravel to Milwaukee before the game.
The Predators again were without forwards Filip Forsberg, Ryan Johansen, Matt Duchene, Cole Smith and Juuso Parssinen, and defensemen Roman Josi, Alexandre Carrier and Jeremy Lauzon due to injuries.
The Predators are 40-30-8. The Hurricanes are 50-19-9.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Predators within a point of wild-card spot with win over Hurricanes
