Canes start and stay flat

RALEIGH -- The Carolina Hurricanes were short on answers Sunday after one of their worst losses of the season.

The Canes were pounded 5-2 by the Nashville Predators at the RBC Center in a game that wasn't that close and had very little excitement value for Hurricanes fans. One team was ready to play, the other wasn't, and the final score reflected it.

Carolina had a three-game winning streak. It was one point behind the Washington Capitals in the Southeast Division standings and could have moved into the division lead with a win.

Instead, the Hurricanes (11-8-2) went 0-for-8 on the power play, twice failing to score with a two-man advantage in the first period. Carolina's Eric Staal, after a hat trick Friday against Phoenix, did not have a shot on goal. Nothing clicked. Energy was lacking.

"For whatever reason, we didn't have the jump," Canes forward Scott Walker said. "We let them take it to us the first little bit, and we didn't answer the bell. We never seemed to get that big push."

But why? Was it overconfidence against a team that came in 9-9-1, with two straight losses?

"I'm not sure," Walker said. "I hope it's not overconfidence. We'd only won three games.

"It is disappointing because ... we're not in a situation where we can rest on our laurels, you know?"

One team did play well Sunday -- the Predators, who had a hungry edge to their game.

Jason Arnott and Shea Weber each had two goals for Nashville, which led 1-0 after the first period, pounded out three second-period goals for a 4-0 lead and was active and aggressive throughout the game.

Matt Cullen and Chad LaRose scored early in the third for the Canes to make it 4-2 and finally awaken a crowd of 13,042 that had been waiting for something positive to happen.

But Carolina failed again on the power play, Weber scored just after a Nashville power play at 12:42, and that was that.

Weber, who also had an assist, leads NHL defensemen in goals (11) and points (21).

"Put yourself in a hole like that, and it's tough to overcome," Cullen said. "We gave ourselves a chance, but it was too little, too late. You can't come out as flat as we did and expect to have a chance to win."

The Predators entered the game 24th overall on the penalty kill, 28th on the road. But Carolina took just seven power-play shots, getting off only one shot with a two-man advantage.

Predators goalie Dan Ellis had 24 saves, denying Joni Pitkanen on a two-on-one pass from Walker early in the second with the score 1-0. Nashville had 30 shots, getting off 25 in the last two periods against the Canes' Cam Ward.

Adding to the Canes' woes was that defenseman Tim Gleason and forward Patrick Eaves went out with injuries. Gleason left in the second with a leg injury, returned to play five seconds and quickly left the game. Eaves had an arm in a sling after the game.

The Canes had 1:14 of 5-on-3 early in the first, but their puck movement was lazy. Later in the period, Carolina had a two-man edge for 43 seconds but got nothing out of it.

Nashville had five first-period penalties, but the Canes were 0-for-5 on the power play.

"That was the story of the game," Cullen said. "We didn't bury a couple early."

Carolina coach Peter Laviolette had a familiar refrain after the game: The Hurricanes, other than the 2-1 win over Montreal on Tuesday, haven't been able to muster many 60-minute efforts.

"With the exception of that Montreal game, I feel like we have yet to put together an attack -- on the net, on the body, on the puck -- that you need to in order to be successful," Laviolette said.

Why? Laviolette mulled it over, offering a few thoughts before finally saying, "I do not know why."