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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Patrick O'Sullivan and Sergei Samsonov scored second-period goals to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-1 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night.
Carolina is 1-1 in the preseason. The game was Nashville's preseason opener.
Nashville veteran J.P. Dumont opened the scoring at 9:18 of the opening period when he intercepted an attempted clearing pass on the right faceoff dot and beat Carolina goaltender Justin Peters with a wrist shot high to the stick side.
After scoring a career-high 29 goals in 2007-08, Dumont had just 16 in 2008-09 and 17 last season. O'Sullivan evened the game at 4:46 of the second period.
Nashville defenseman Cody Franson broke his stick on an attempted slap shot from the right point. Carolina's Zac Dalpe collected the puck and sent O'Sullivan in all alone on Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne.
O'Sullivan signed a one-year, two-way contract with Carolina last week. He scored 11 goals in 73 games with Edmonton last season.
That goal was the only blemish on an otherwise strong outing for Rinne, who stopped 17 of the 18 shots he faced before being replaced by Mark Dekanich midway through the game.
Samsonov gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead at 15:34 of the second on a power-play goal.
Erik Cole added an empty-net goal for the Hurricanes and Peters went the distance in goal for Carolina to earn the win.
| POST-GAME ANALYSIS |
| It is very hard to take too much away from the final score of tonight's game; Carolina dressed a lineup that will bear a strong resemblance to its regular season roster while the Preds went very young with their lineup for tonight's game. Nashville used the game as an early camp measuring stick for young elite prospects like Jon Blum, Ryan Ellis, Blake Geoffrion; none of Nashville's projected top-four defensemen skated in tonight's game and likely only three of team's top nine or 10 forwards dressed. Tonight's game was very much about learning experiences and individual performances. The coaches didn't even try to match lines or create power-play units, instead watching how the players adjusted to the different match-ups and situations. Some guys likely played their way into a more extended preseason look with their performances tonight. Individually, Tootoo had an impressive game; he's been flying around the ice all training camp and took that speed game into tonight's action. He created several chances for his linemates by using speed to open up the ice. Ryan Parent played a steady game on the back end. And don't overlook the stellar performance in net by Pekka Rinne. Young Taylor Beck continues to be the surprise of Training Camp. Beck's stellar play in the rookie games and intra-squad scrimmages earned him a preseason game alongside J-P Dumont and Marcel Goc. They were a consistent offensive threat tonight and Beck didn't look out of place crashing the net on the wing for the two vets. There's a long way between the preseason opener and Opening Night roster, but Beck is definitely tightening up the competition among the forwards in camp; forcing other forwards to up their play or risk losing their roster spot. --Jay Levin, NashvillePredators.com |
| TEAM | GP | W | L | OT | GF | GA | PTS | ||
| 1 |  |
p - CHI | 48 | 36 | 7 | 5 | 155 | 102 | 77 |
| 2 |  |
y - ANA | 48 | 30 | 12 | 6 | 140 | 118 | 66 |
| 3 |  |
y - VAN | 48 | 26 | 15 | 7 | 127 | 121 | 59 |
| 4 |  |
x - STL | 48 | 29 | 17 | 2 | 129 | 115 | 60 |
| 5 |  |
x - LAK | 48 | 27 | 16 | 5 | 133 | 118 | 59 |
| 6 |  |
x - SJS | 48 | 25 | 16 | 7 | 124 | 116 | 57 |
| 7 |  |
x - DET | 48 | 24 | 16 | 8 | 124 | 115 | 56 |
| 8 |  |
x - MIN | 48 | 26 | 19 | 3 | 122 | 127 | 55 |
| 9 |  |
CBJ | 48 | 24 | 17 | 7 | 120 | 119 | 55 |
| 10 |  |
PHX | 48 | 21 | 18 | 9 | 125 | 131 | 51 |
| 11 |  |
DAL | 48 | 22 | 22 | 4 | 130 | 142 | 48 |
| 12 |  |
EDM | 48 | 19 | 22 | 7 | 125 | 134 | 45 |
| 13 |  |
CGY | 48 | 19 | 25 | 4 | 128 | 160 | 42 |
| 14 |  |
NSH | 48 | 16 | 23 | 9 | 111 | 139 | 41 |
| 15 |  |
COL | 48 | 16 | 25 | 7 | 116 | 152 | 39 |
| SKATERS: | GP | G | A | +/- | Pts |
| S. Weber | 48 | 9 | 19 | -2 | 28 |
| D. Legwand | 48 | 12 | 13 | -6 | 25 |
| M. Fisher | 38 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 21 |
| C. Wilson | 25 | 7 | 12 | 1 | 19 |
| R. Josi | 48 | 5 | 13 | -7 | 18 |
| G. Bourque | 34 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 16 |
| S. Kostitsyn | 46 | 3 | 12 | -5 | 15 |
| P. Hornqvist | 24 | 4 | 10 | -1 | 14 |
| K. Klein | 47 | 3 | 11 | -1 | 14 |
| N. Spaling | 47 | 9 | 4 | -10 | 13 |
| GOALIES: | W | L | OT | Sv% | GAA |
| P. Rinne | 15 | 16 | 8 | .910 | 2.43 |
| C. Mason | 1 | 7 | 1 | .873 | 3.73 |
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