RALEIGH, N.C. — Vincent Trocheck did not play for the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, and Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said that would be a “big blow.”
With Trocheck out and injured, Morgan Geekie came off the taxi squad. He was listed as the fourth-line center in his 10th game of the season and his first since Feb. 11.
And then he played, well, like Trocheck as the Canes rolled past the Nashville Predators, 5-1, at PNC Arena for their seventh win in a row.
Geekie scored on a first-period power play, deflecting a Jake Bean shot in the slot much like Trocheck has this season. In the second period, Geekie scored again just as a Canes power play ended, again off a Bean pass, his shot hitting Preds goalie Pekka Rinne, off a defenseman and back past Rinne.
The Canes (19-6-1) continued to push the Tampa Bay Lightning, who played the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday trying to maintain a slim Central Division lead over Carolina.
Canes goalie James Reimer won his fourth straight game, his 12th victory of the season and the 170th of his career. He had 15 saves in the opening period, allowing the Canes to keep the three-goal cushion, and lost his bid for his first shutout of the season late in the third as Nick Cousins scored.
Geekie’s goals were his first two of the season. His first started a scoring binge as Brock McGinn and Dougie Hamilton had goals 16 seconds apart in the first period as the Canes took a 3-0 lead.
Add in Geekie’s goal, and it was three scores in 2:11. The Predators, with several key players still out of their lineup, could not recover or answer.
Geekie’s second-period goal made it 4-0 and Martin Necas added a power-play goal in the third as Andrei Svechnikov earned his second assist and Hamilton an assist.
The Preds (11-15-1) did play harder after coach John Hynes used his timeout following the Hamilton goal, which came after a perfect setup pass from Andrei Svechnikov. Nashville, missing Roman Josi and Ryan Ellis among others, attacked the net and made Reimer work.
McGinn’s goal, his eighth, came off an unchecked one-timer from the right circle.
Geekie, 22, made some sharp passes, once setting up Steven Lorentz for a shot in the slot. He won faceoffs. He threw some hits. He was noticeable.
Canes defenseman Jaccob Slavin and forward Cedric Paquette both played their 400th career games.
