RALEIGH, N.C. _ After Saturday's morning skate, Nashville Predators coach Peter Laviolette called the Carolina Hurricanes a dangerous team.
"It shows in the teams they're beating," Laviolette said. "They work hard, they're tenacious on the puck, they're well-coached. They're able to beat Minnesota, one of the top teams in the league. They beat the (New York) Rangers, one of the top teams in the league.
"We've done our best to wind our guys up for what I think might be one of the toughest games we'll see in a while."
It wasn't just coachspeak. Laviolette isn't that type of coach.
The Canes, in turn, won 4-2 as Jeff Skinner scored two goals and nearly a third, Jordan Staal had a goal and assist and Eddie Lack again was sound in net with 27 saves.
Viktor Arvidsson scored in second period and Filip Forsberg with 1:49 left in regulation after the Predators pulled goalie Juuse Saros for an extra attacker. It was Forsberg's 13th goal in 13 games and pulled Nashville within 3-2, but Elias Lindholm scored an empty-netter for the Canes.
Talk about a quick jump. Staal scored for the Canes 29 seconds into the game.
After missing a tip off a Sebastian Aho pass, Staal redirected a Jaccob Slavin shot past Saros for his 14th of the season. It also was the fastest goal of the season for Carolina, topping Slavin's score 34 seconds into the Nov. 1 game at Ottawa.
Lee Stempniak, active and around the puck a lot Saturday, was a big part of Skinner's first goal. After shaking off a hit from Cody McLeod near the blue line, Stempniak later chopped the puck away from Saros behind the net on the forecheck and found Skinner open for sharp shot as Saros tried to recover.
The Canes nearly made it 3-0 in the opening seconds of the second, but Joakim Nordstrom missed the net on a two-on-one rush with Patrick Brown. The miss loomed larger when Victor Arvidsson beat Lack with a sharp-angled shot from the right wing when Lack failed to seal the post.
Arvidsson had his 26th and the Predators seemed poised for another big second-period push _ it was Nashville's 88th second-period goal, a league best this season.
But Skinner, who appeared to take a stick in the mouth in the first period, answered before the second ended. Going to the front of the net, he won a battle with defenseman Ryan Ellis on a rebound to lift a backhander past Saros.
It was Skinner's fifth goal, and the winger's second multi-goal game in the past six games and the 25th of his career. Slavin earned his second assist of the night and Staal added an assist to his first-period goal.
With a 3-1 lead it was a matter of finishing off the game with a strong third. Canes coach Bill Peters continued to roll four lines and Skinner had a shot ring off the metal on a Canes power play _ a fifth career hat trick denied.
Lack played tall in net, making timely stops in the third against Calle Jarnkrok, Colin Wilson and Ryan Johansen. The Preds pulled Saros for an extra attacker with 2:45 left in
Forward Phil Di Giuseppe returned to the lineup after missing six games with an upper-body injury, playing with Nordstrom and Patrick on the fourth line and giving the Canes some energy and physical play.
The Canes will be on the road for the next four games, a trip that begins Sunday against the Philadelphia Flyers.
