Steven Lorentz is one of those guys who always seems to be smiling, and his smile got a little wider Tuesday.
The rookie center scored the first goal of his NHL career as the Carolina Hurricanes held on in the third period to edge the Nashville Predators, 4-2, at Bridgestone Arena to close their road trip with three straight wins.
Sebastian Aho scored twice — the Canes’ first and last — but the Lorentz goal would prove to be his first NHL game-winner.
Lorentz’s goal came in the second period as the Canes’ fourth line supplied some offense. After a Jordan Martinook pass bounced off a Nashville player, Lorentz jumped on the loose puck in the slot and fired away to beat Pekka Rinne.
For a former seventh-round draft pick who paid his hockey dues in the ECHL and American Hockey League, it was a memorable moment and Lorentz’s celebration oozed excitement. But Lorentz and the Canes (15-6-1) had a lot of work to do in the third as the Predators pressured goalie James Reimer.
Aho and Vincent Trocheck scored in the first period, and the Lorentz goal made it 3-0. The Predators (10-12-0) seemingly had little life with a few key players, including Ryan Ellis, out of the lineup with injuries or on the NHL COVID-19 protocol list.
But Calle Jarnkrok scored a power-play goal six minutes into the third, and when Mattias Ekholm knocked a shot past Reimer a little more than two minutes later, Nashville had made it a one-goal deficit with 12 minutes left in regulation.
Reimer made a critical save on a Filip Forsberg shot with a little more than a minute left in the third. Aho’s empty-net goal sealed it.
Rinne replaced starting goalie Juuse Saros after the first period. The Predators said they would release more information on Saros’ situation on Wednesday.
The Canes were playing their fifth game in eight days and completing a back-to-back. They began the road trip with two losses to Tampa Bay, then twice beat the Florida Panthers, winning in overtime on Monday.
