JUUSE SAROS

Saros racked up a franchise-record 64 saves and Mark Jankowski’s goal 5:06 into the third period gave the Predators their first lead in a 5-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night. “He made multiple big saves,” Predators coach John Hynes said. He played like that.”The 67 shots for Carolina marked a franchise record. “You've got to win the game,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. The Hurricanes held a 31-12 edge in shots after Glass’ fourth goal of the season and second in two games.

Nashville goalie Juuse Saros made a franchise-record 64 saves and Mark Jankowski’s goal 5:06 into the third period gave the Predators their first lead in a 5-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Nino Niederreiter scored his debut goal for the Nashville Predators, who beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1 in Prague in the NHL regular-season opener.

Toronto’s Auston Matthews won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player, beating out Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers to win the award for the first time.

Injuries are threatening to tip the balance of a handful of first-round series around the NHL playoffs.

Cale Makar scored 8:31 into overtime, Darcy Kuemper made 25 saves on his 32nd birthday and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Nashville Predators 2-1 to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round playoff series.

Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog built the lead to 6-0 when he was credited for a goal in the second period. MacKinnon scored his second goal of the game in the third period and, coupled with an assist, raised his playoff points per game average to 1.41. RECORD STARTThe goals by MacKinnon and Toews were in the first 2:42, making it the fastest pair of goals to start a playoff game in Colorado/Quebec franchise history. MAKAR'S MARKMakar became the third defenseman in team history to record three points in a period during a playoff game. On his 27th birthday, Avs forward Nico Sturm received a hard check in the second period that knocked him down.

Nathan MacKinnon and Devon Toews scored 22 seconds apart in a five-goal first period, sending the Colorado Avalanche to a 7-2 win over the Nashville Predators in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

The first-round matchups are set for the NHL playoffs that begin Monday.

Sidney Crosby scored the second of his two goals at 2:21 of overtime for his 1,400th career point, helping the Pittsburgh Penguins snap a four-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators.

Steven Stamkos had a goal and two assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 to spoil the first outdoor game in Music City.

Washington star Alexander Ovechkin and high-scoring Edmonton teammates Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl headline the rosters for the NHL All-Star Weekend announced Thursday.

Brandon Tanev scored his second goal into an empty net with 1:21 left, and the Seattle Kraken held off the Nashville Predators 4-3 Thursday night for the first victory in the expansion franchise’s second game.

Moving on from the past is an early theme of the NHL offseason. Consider it like summer cleaning before most of the jumbling for the 2021-22 season happens after the Seattle expansion draft next week. Vegas is exempt after the Golden Knights rode their 2017 expansion draft to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season. The ramifications of the Kraken's expansion draft sure will. “Once the expansion draft is over, I expect things would heat up,” Holland said.

Moving on from the past is the early theme of the NHL offseason.

Carolina won its fourth straight game with a chance to end a series. The Hurricanes are 12-10 in franchise history in clinching games, and they improved to 5-2 on the road in Game 6 with a 3-2 lead. Aho stunned the largest crowd to see an NHL game this year when he scored so quickly after overtime started for the fourth straight game in this series. Nashville fell to 1-10 in series when trailing 3-2, and the Predators now are 7-8 in Game 6s. CANES' HISTORYThis was just the sixth time Carolina has rallied from a multi-goal deficit to win a playoff game and only the second in a series-clinching game.

Sebastian Aho scored his second goal of the game 1:06 into overtime to send the Carolina Hurricanes to the second round with a 4-3 comeback victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night in Game 6.

(AP Photo/Gerry Broome) (Gerry Broome)RALEIGH, N.C. — (AP) — Jordan Staal scored off a rebound at 1:44 of overtime to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night for a 3-2 lead in the first-round playoff series. Staal was jostling with Nashville's Ryan Johansen for position just outside the crease when Brett Pesce fired a shot toward Juuse Saros on a 4-on-4 sequence. Saros made the stop and poked the puck forward, but Carolina's captain batted the puck out of the air and past Saros to seal the win. This one, however, moved the Hurricanes within a win of closing it out and advancing in the postseason. ___Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap___More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsCopyright 2021 The Associated Press.

Jordan Staal scored off a rebound at 1:44 of overtime to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.

Goalie Juuse Saros made a franchise-record 58 saves to ensure this series will return to Nashville. This was the first time both teams had gone to multiple overtimes in back-to-back games in a series. Nashville improved to 5-3 winning in double overtime for the second straight game, while Carolina dropped to 1-7 overall with one loss while still the Hartford Whalers. He became the second goalie to make 50 or more saves in back-to-back playoff games. He also joined Jean-Sebastien Giguere (Anaheim 2003) as the only goalies to win 2 playoff games with 50 or more saves in the same season.

Luke Kunin scored his second goal at 16:10 of the second overtime,and the Nashville Predators beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 Sunday to tie the first-round series 2-2.

Matt Duchene scored at 14:54 of the second overtime and the Nashville Predators beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 on Friday night to cut their series deficit to 2-1.

It's a good thing the Carolina Hurricanes' penalty kill did, too. That's why they are up 2-0 in their first-round playoff series on the Nashville Predators. Nedeljkovic finished with 32 saves to lead a perfect showing for Carolina's kill, helping the Hurricanes beat the Predators 3-0 on Wednesday night. “We obviously know the power play has got to be better. As for Saros, he had to make some big stops even when Nashville was on the power play.

Sebastian Aho scored twice and Alex Nedeljkovic was sharp in net to lead a perfect showing for Carolina’s penalty kill, helping the Hurricanes beat the Nashville Predators 3-0 on Monday night in Game 2 of the first-round playoff series.

Jordan Staal scored twice and Nino Niederreiter beat Juuse Saros for the go-ahead goal early in the third period, helping the Hurricanes to a 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Monday night to open their first-round playoff series. Staal followed with his second goal midway through the second, created partly by his own pressure on the forecheck. Teuvo Teravainen scored a first-period goal for the Hurricanes, while Alex Nedeljkovic made 22 saves in his first playoff start. The Hurricanes host Game 2 on Wednesday night before the best-of-seven series shifts west to Nashville in neighboring Tennessee. Roy Cooper — a notable Hurricanes fan who announced the protocol changes — sounded the pregame storm-warning siren for the Hurricanes to take the ice.

Jordan Staal scored twice and Nino Niederreiter beat Juuse Saros for the go-ahead goal early in the third period, helping the Carolina Hurricanes to a 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators in the first game of the teams' first-round playoff series.

The Carolina Hurricanes and the Nashville Predators begin their Stanley Cup playoff series Monday.

Ontario’s minister of sport says it would be “irresponsible” to give the OK for the Ontario Hockey League to start its season right now.