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Nashville beats Carolina for third straight win

Dec 5, 2010 - 4:31 AM Nashville, TN (Sports Network) - Cal O'Reilly and Steve Sullivan posted third- period scores as Nashville upended Carolina, 5-2, at Bridgestone Arena.

Shea Weber, Marcel Goc and Patric Hornqvist also scored for the Predators, who have won three in a row. Martin Erat notched three assists and Sergei Kostitsyn chipped in a pair of helpers for the home club.

Anders Lindback got the start for the first time in almost a month, and earned his first win since October 24 with a 28-save effort. The 22-year-old Swede will be relied upon for the next 2-to-4 weeks as regular starter Pekka Rinne recovers from a left-knee injury suffered earlier in the week.

Joe Corvo and Jiri Tlusty tallied for the Hurricanes, who slid to their sixth loss in eight games.

Cam Ward was tagged with the loss after yielding four goals on 38 shots.

O'Reilly's sweeping wrister in the slot off a nice dish from Erat at the 8:44 mark of the third period gave Nashville some breathing room at 4-2.

The Hurricanes then came up empty on back-to-back power plays at the 11-minute and 14-minute mark.

Carolina gambled and pulled Ward with a little less than three minutes left in the contest, but the move backfired as Sullivan calmly slid the puck into the empty net with 2:50 remaining.

The Predators struck three times in the opening period and only allowed one from the visitors.

Hornqvist got the home team to an early lead at 2:33 when he beat Ward between the pads off a Cody Franson rebound, but Corvo countered only 18 seconds later when his fluttering shot from the right wing deflected off Lindback and in.

Nashville moved ahead at 10:08 when Erat slid a pass to Weber for a one-timer, then took a two-goal lead at 16:01 on Goc's shot from the low slot.

Tlusty picked up the lone goal of the second period just prior to the midway point, and the 'Canes were down by one heading to the final 20 minutes.

Game Notes

The Predators have won five in a row over the Hurricanes and six of the last seven meetings since December, 2003...Erat's last game with three or more assists came on March 28, 2009 against Los Angeles, when he assisted on all four of Nashville's tallies in a 4-3 victory...This was Kostitsyn's first multi-point effort of the season...Corvo notched his second multi-point game of the year, following a two-goal performance on November 9 against Edmonton.