First came a hockey team named the Hurricanes. Then the Nashville Predators had to deal with some very real tornadoes as violent weather hit central Tennessee.
A tornado warning was issued late in the third period of Nashville’s 1-0 victory over Carolina on Tuesday night, forcing the 13,949 fans in the Sommet Center to stay inside the arena after the game.
“One of the referees came over with nine minutes to go and said we might have to evacuate because of the weather,” Predators coach Barry Trotz said. “At that time, it was still 0-0 and some of the guys on the bench thought maybe each team would be given a point and we would go right to the shootout.”
After the final buzzer, the fans were evacuated from the main seating area and allowed to leave the arena shortly after. Fans and players could hear the thunder and the warning sirens.
Trotz said he had never had a game called for the weather.
“I had one called because of a rodeo having been held in an arena,” he said. “When the ice started getting cut up, the dirt started coming through.”
espite having never faced Carolina in a regular-season game, Mason stopped all 31 shots he faced to preserve the victory. It was his fourth shutout of the season.
“I was seeing the puck well and the guys were letting me see it,” Mason said. “We contained rebounds and eliminated second chances. I need to start playing like this every night. I need to give the team a chance to win.”
In other NHL games, it was: Anaheim 3, the New York Islanders 0; Florida 8, Toronto 0; Buffalo 4, Boston 2; Washington 4, Columbus 3 in overtime; Philadelphia 3, Atlanta 2; Los Angeles 4, the New York Rangers 2; Montreal 4, Ottawa 3; Detroit 3, Minnesota 2 in overtime; Tampa Bay 5, St. Louis 4; Dallas 3, Vancouver 2 in a shootout; and Calgary 4, Phoenix 3, also in a shootout.
In stormy Nashville, J.P. Dumont scored for the Predators, who have won four straight.
With the game scoreless in the third period, Dumont skated in on the left side of the slot. Jason Arnott made a backhanded pass sending the puck across the crease from the right circle. Dumont beat Cam Ward with a one-timer that went to his stick side and bounced off of the left post at 11:59.
Ducks 3, Islanders 0
At Uniondale, N.Y., Teemu Selanne gave Anaheim’s slumping offense a jolt in his first game this season.
last spring. He helped set up Scott Niedermayer’s power-play goal in the second period for the Ducks, who had lost six straight.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped 25 shots for his third shutout of the season.
Panthers 8, Maple Leafs 0
At Toronto, Richard Zednik scored three goals and Tomas Vokoun stopped 23 shots for Florida.
Nathan Horton, Olli Jokinen, Cory Murphy, Steve Montador and Brett McLean also scored for Florida, which has won three straight.
It was the largest loss of the season for the Maple Leafs.
Sabres 4, Bruins 2
Daniel Paille scored twice, and Ryan Miller stopped 30 shots to lead visiting Buffalo.
Thomas Vanek broke a second-period tie for the Sabres, who are four points behind the eighth-place Bruins for the last playoff spot in the East.
Capitals 4, Blue Jackets 3, OT
Alexander Ovechkin added to his NHL-leading goal total by scoring twice, including the winner – his 45th – 2:28 in overtime for visiting Washington.
Rick Nash scored twice for the Blue Jackets, on a season-worst four-game losing skid since the All-Star break.
Flyers 3, Thrashers 2
Antero Nittymaki stopped 23 shots to stay perfect in eight decisions against Atlanta and Steve Downie scored with 4:29 left in the third period to give Philadelphia a road victory.
The Flyers have won nine straight against Atlanta.
Kings 4, Rangers 2
v and Anze Kopitar each had a goal and an assist to lead visiting Los Angeles.
Scott Thornton and Brian Boyle also scored for Los Angeles, and Jason LaBarbera made 23 of his 39 saves in the second period.
Canadiens 4, Senators 3
At Montreal, Tomas Plekanec had two goals and an assist, and Andrei Kostitsyn had a goal and two assists for the Canadiens.
Alex Kovalev had three assists as Montreal’s top line combined for nine points and the Canadiens ended a six-game losing streak against Ottawa.
Chris Kelly, Jason Spezza and Antoine Vermette scored for Ottawa, which has lost three in a row.
Red Wings 3, Wild 2, OT
Dan Cleary tied the game with 1:20 to play in regulation and Brett Lebda scored 1:37 into overtime to lift visiting Detroit to its eighth straight victory.
Brian Rolston tied a team record with a goal in his sixth straight game and Pavol Demitra also scored for the Wild, who led the best team in the NHL 2-1 with 80 seconds to play.
Lightning 5, Blues 4
Jason Ward scored his first goal in six weeks to help Tampa Bay to its fifth consecutive road victory.
Paul Ranger scored two goals for the Lightning, who won in St. Louis for the first time since Oct. 13, 1992, their first visit in their first season.
Stars 3, Canucks 2, SO
At Dallas, Brenden Morrow scored in the sixth round of the shootout as the Stars extended their winning streak to four games.
Morrow added a goal and an assist in regulation, and Jere Lehtinen added a power-play goal for Dallas.
Flames 4, Coyotes 3, SO
Jarome Iginla tied it with 9 seconds left in regulation, then scored the shootout-winner as Calgary overcame a three-goal, third-period deficit at home.
Rookie Peter Mueller had all three goals for Phoenix.
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