Preds set for first back-to-back, vs. Hurricanes

Almost two months into the season, the Nashville Predators will encounter something for the first time this campaign.

They have games scheduled on back-to-back nights.

Both games are on the road, beginning with Friday night's matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, N.C. The next night, the Predators take on the Florida Panthers.

The goal for the Predators will be to maintain some solid play. They have a three-game points streak, but they lost in overtime Wednesday night to the Vegas Golden Knights.

The theme for the Predators is that they need to secure better results when they feel they've played well.

"That's six games in a row now that we've played really well, and to be 2-3-1 isn't fair, but that's the way it is," center Matt Duchene said.

Nashville coach Peter Laviolette, a former Hurricanes coach, has pointed out the need for the Predators to avoid the one or two mistakes that ended up proving so costly. Those have prevented the team from being fully rewarded, he said.

The loss to Vegas -- in which the Predators rallied from two goals down to force overtime -- was an example of that.

"We can learn from some of the mistakes, but we need to move past this as fast as we can," Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis said.

The Hurricanes will be at home for the first time in three games. They're coming off a 3-2 loss Wednesday night to the New York Rangers.

Compared to Nashville, Carolina was on the flip side, because it trailed by three goals in the first period and then made a comeback that fell short.

"We played a pretty decent game after that, but it's all for naught (because of the first 10 minutes)," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "It's a lesson on preparation. The start was the whole game. ... It's another lesson. We've had a few of these this year, but we don't want to have too many."

The Hurricanes tend to face challenges because of some slow starts. This latest situation was too much to overcome.

"It's tough to climb out of a 3-0 hole," Carolina center Ryan Dzingel said. "You can't do that in the NHL, or you're behind the 8-ball."

Dzingel snapped a six-game stretch without a goal when he scored against the Rangers.

"We've been preaching all year we've got to play 60 minutes," Hurricanes left winger Warren Foegele said. "It's hard to play catch-up hockey. It has got to start from the group to come to play all 60. You work hard for 40 minutes -- it's not going to cut it."

Despite the pre-Thanksgiving setback, the Hurricanes have won six of their last eight games.

Carolina has scored two goals in each of the last two games. Before that, it had six straight games with at least three goals, including five games during that stretch with four or more goals.

Across a five-game stretch, this matchup with Nashville will be the Hurricanes' only outing on home ice.

Brind'Amour was the captain for Laviolette's 2006 Stanley Cup champion team with the Hurricanes.

Last season against the Predators, the Hurricanes had a pair of high-scoring victories, winning 6-3 and 5-3.

--Field Level Media