<p>RALEIGH, N.C. — Jordan Staal scored twice and Nino Niederreiter beat Juuse Saros for the go-ahead goal early in the third period, helping the Carolina Hurricanes to a 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Monday night in the first game of the teams’ first-round playoff series.</p>
<p>Niederreiter hammered the puck past Saros from between the circles at 2:26 of the third, finishing a perfect pass from Martin Necas only moments after Saros had made a terrific stop on Vincent Trocheck. </p>
<p>That broke a 2-all tie as the Hurricanes made their move with a strong final 20 minutes — not to mention a far more physical stretch after the first.</p>
<p>Staal illustrated that with his second goal midway through the second, created partly by his own pressure on the forecheck. After Saros stopped a shot near the post from Warren Foegele, Carolina’s captain gathered the loose puck and pushed it past Saros for a 4-2 lead at the eight-minute mark.</p>
<p>Andrei Svechnikov added the clinching empty-netter on a breakaway at 18:13 for Carolina. Teuvo Teravainen also scored a first-period goal. Alex Nedeljkovic got the start in net and finished with 22 saves. </p>
<p>Carolina finished with a 38-24 advantage in shots on goal in a game with plenty of chippy moments and chesty exchanges between the teams.</p>
<p>Filip Forsberg and Erik Haula scored for the Predators. Saros finished with 33 saves.</p>
<p>The Hurricanes host Game 2 on Wednesday night before the best-of-seven series shifts west to Nashville in neighboring Tennessee.</p>
<p>WELCOME BACK</p>
<p>PNC Arena was rowdy again after the state loosened COVID-19 protocols regarding public gatherings and physical distancing earlier this week.</p>
<p>The Hurricanes welcomed a loud, towel-waving crowd of about 12,000 for this one, roughly two-thirds full. The team had roughly 5,000 fans attending home games to close the regular season.</p>
<p>Gov. Roy Cooper — a notable Hurricanes fan who announced the protocol changes — sounded the pregame storm-warning siren for the Hurricanes to take the ice. </p>
<p>Duke football coach David Cutcliffe and North Carolina State women’s basketball coach Wes Moore sounded the siren for the second and third periods.</p>
<p>SEASON SET</p>
<p>Carolina had won the first six meetings of the eight-game season series on the way to winning the Central Division title, the first division crown for the franchise since winning its only Stanley Cup 15 years ago.</p>
<p>The Predators won the last two meetings to close the regular season, securing their seventh straight trip to the postseason behind a late surge that had Nashville steadily climbing the division standings since March.</p>
<p>LINEUP CALLS</p>
<p>Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin missed much of the week’s workouts with a lower-body injury suffered in the second-to-last game at Nashville. He was a game-time decision, and had 21:25 of ice time.</p>
<p>Nashville coach John Hynes decided to get more size in his lineup, going with 6-foot-5 defenseman Erik Gudbranson (222 pounds) instead of Dante Fabbro (6-0,189). And forward Tanner Jeannot (6-2, 208) was bumped up from the fourth line to the third.</p>
<hr />
<p>Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap">http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap</a> </p>
<hr />
<p>More AP NHL: <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/NHL">https://apnews.com/hub/NHL</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/AP_Sports">https://twitter.com/AP_Sports</a></p>
