Saros Sets Franchise Saves Record as Predators Topple Hurricanes 5-3

Juuse Saros set a Nashville Predators franchise record with 64 saves in a 5-3 win against the Carolina Hurricanes Thursday at PNC Arena.
Saros made 28 saves in the third period alone for the Preds, who improved to 17-14-6 on the season and 5-1-2 in their last eight games. His 64 saves were tied for the third-most in a game in NHL history and were the most by any League goaltender since Ron Tugnutt made a record 70 on March 21, 1991 for Quebec.

THE STORY

Carolina got first blood on the power play, when a Brett Pesce shot from the point deflected off Paul Stastny and into the net at 7:41 of the first period. Minutes later, the Preds responded with a power-play goal of their own as Juuso Parssinen set up Filip Forsberg for a wrist shot to make it 2-2 at 10:29.
Brady Skjei scored for Carolina just 35 seconds into the second period, redirecting a setup from Brett Pesce to retake the 2-1 lead. But Nashville had another quick answer, as Mattias Ekholm fired from an offensive zone draw win to tie things back up at 2:47.
Jordan Staal scored on a partial breakaway to give Carolina a 3-2 lead at 9:54 of the second period, but the Preds tied things back up at 11:55 as Mikael Granlund dished out feed from behind the net to Cody Glass, who stuffed it in at the post for Nashville's third goal of the night.
Mark Jankowski broke the tie at 5:06 of the third period, tipping in a Ryan Johansen shot from the wall to give the Preds a 4-3 lead. Colton Sissons scored into the empty net with three seconds remaining for the 5-3 final.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Juuse All-Staros
Saros made a franchise-record 64 saves in the win, topping his previous career high of 49 (2020-21). Shots were 67-25 in favor of the Hurricanes.
As announced by the NHL tonight on ESPN, Saros has been named to the Central Division roster for the 2023 NHL All-Star Game. This is Saros' second career nod to an NHL All-Star Game roster after he was chosen to represent the Predators in the 2022 edition in Las Vegas.
Big Filly Style
Forsberg's power-play goal in the first period extended his point streak to four games (6g-3a) dating back to Dec. 27 vs. Dallas. Forsberg was named the NHL's First Star of the Week for the week ending Jan. 1 after he led the league in goals (5) and points (7) during the week and posted back-to-back three-point outings on Friday at Anaheim (1g-2a) and Saturday at Vegas (3g).

Forsberg has 30 points (13g-17a) in his last 30 games dating back to Oct. 22 vs. Philadelphia. He leads the Predators with 33 points (14g-19a) this season, and his 14 goals are also a team high.
Ekky's Equalizer
With his goal in the second period, Ekholm now has three points (2g-1a) in his last two games after recording a goal and an assist Tuesday vs. Montreal. With assists on both Forsberg's and Ekholm's goals, Parssinen put together the fourth multi-point performance of his rookie NHL season.

Granny Apples
Granlund's feed to Glass from behind the net in the second period was truly a thing of beauty. Granlund is now tied with Roman Josi for the team lead in assists with 21.

Return of El Nino
Nino Niederreiter, who played for parts of four seasons with Carolina from 2019-22, received a standing ovation from the crowd at PNC Arena following an in-arena video tribute during the first TV timeout. Niederreiter tallied 137 points (69g-68a) during his time with Carolina.

THEY SAID IT

Juuse Saros on stopping a franchise-high 64 shots:
"It's a nice feeling, most of all to get the two points. It was a sweaty night, but nice to get the win... That was kind of the theme of the game and they're that kind of a team too. So I had to guess it was not going to slow down."

Mattias Ekholm on Juuse Saros' historic performance:
"He's our best player and that's why he was selected [for the All-Star Game]. He shows it night in and night out. I think we've played a lot better as of late as a team, but for that stretch where we were in a rut, he's never been in a rut this year. I feel like he's been the one keeping us in the games, and even though we may have played poorly, he's been there to bail us out. So as a team you're very appreciative of having guys like that. And in my career I had the fortune to play with [Pekka Rinne] for a long time, and now Juuse is stepping in and they're doing the same thing. He's our best player. That's the bottom line, and he deserves to go there."
Mark Jankowski on Juuse Saros' performance:
"Juice was unbelievable. He's an All-Star for a reason. That was an unbelievable game by him... I don't know about the other guys, but I don't really look at the shot clock during the game. It felt like they were coming over the blueline and just shooting everything. Shots can go one way or the other, they can tell the story or they can't. But obviously, Juice played amazing and on their high-quality chances that they did get, he hung in there."
Head Coach John Hynes on Juuse Saros' performance:
"Juice played really well. They had a lot of pressure on him and he made multiple big saves. He's one of the stars of our team and he played like that tonight."
Head Coach John Hynes on Nashville's effort against Carolina:
"It was good. It wasn't the prettiest game, but I think there's going to be times over the course of 82 games where you might play great and lose a game, or you might be in one here where you get an unbelievable goaltending performance. And I did like that we scored four goals again, which is important and there's different ways you win and there's different ways you lose throughout the season. You've got to take the goods and bads from this one and we've got to be ready for Washington."
Mattias Ekholm on Nashville's effort against Carolina:
"We know the way [Carolina] wants to play, they want to get a ton of pucks to the net. So, it usually doesn't matter how good you play, it's going to be lopsided, but maybe it was a little bit too much tonight. We had a goaltender that stood on his head and kept us in there, and at the end we landed the final punch. This is a hard building to come out of points with. We've seen what they've done as of late, so we're really happy with the points and the effort. Sometimes throughout a year, it can't be pretty every time, but you've got to dig some out. So it was nice for us to do it tonight."

UP NEXT

The Preds will continue their road trip Friday with a visit to the Washington Capitals. Puck drops at 6 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on Bally Sports South, 102.5 The Game and El Jefe Radio.