Brandon Bussi stopped all 22 shots he faced to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-0 preseason victory over the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday.
Carolina took control early with three goals in the opening period. Jackson Blake opened the scoring on a power play at 5:02 with a wrist shot set up by Sebastian Aho and Shayne Gostisbehere. Jordan Martinook doubled the lead at 7:04 on an even-strength wrist shot assisted by Nikolaj Ehlers and Jordan Staal, and Ehlers added an unassisted wrist goal at 13:29 to make it 3-0.
Logan Stankoven pushed the advantage to four at 16:37 of the second period with a wrist shot off a pass from Blake. Carolina added two more power-play wrist goals in the third period, with Mark Jankowski scoring at 9:21 off helpers from Felix Unger Sorum and Taylor Hall, followed by Andrei Svechnikov at 19:05 assisted by Aho and Blake.
Special teams helped shape the outcome, as Carolina scored on three of its four power-play opportunities while holding Nashville scoreless on five chances. In net, Bussi earned the shutout win with 22 saves for the Hurricanes, while Predators goaltender Juuse Saros stopped 20 of 26 shots in the loss.
Both teams continue their schedules next month. Carolina visits the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, October 20, while Nashville travels to face the Boston Bruins on Thursday, October 22.
