Former Cane Brady Skjei returns to familiar ice, helps Predators knock off Hurricanes
It was an interesting juxtaposition of players on the ice Tuesday, or so it seemed, as the Carolina Hurricanes hosted the Nashville Predators.
On the Canes’ side was center Mark Jankowski, who until March 7 was playing for the Preds.
On the Preds was defenseman Brady Skjei, who became a lineup fixture — and a big fan favorite — for the Canes until leaving after last season.
Skjei got a nice tribute early in the game plus a nice hand from Canes fans. He also left with a victory as the Predators used a pair of goals from Luke Evangelista and a slew of timely saves from goalie Juuse Saros for a 3-1 victory at the Lenovo Center.
Saros, moving quickly and comfortable in the crease, earned his 200th career win, was named the game’s first star and was called the “backbone of the team” by Evangelista.
Said Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour: “That guy won them the game tonight. End of story.”
Canes forward Taylor Hall, coming off a hat trick, scored on a second-period power play, but Saros took care of the rest. The Canes (43-24-4) outshot the Predators 35-16 — Nashville had two shots in the second period — and had an abundance of scoring chances but could not finish.
Forward Michael Bunting, another former Canes player, scored the game’s first goal on a power play in the first period as the Predators (27-36-8) earned only their ninth road win in long, frustrating season.
No one could blame Skjei for entering free-agency after parts of five seasons with the Hurricanes to see what kind of payday he could earn. He ended up with a seven-year, $49 million deal with Nashville.
But talk about bargains. The Canes picked up Jankowski on March 7, the NHL trade deadline, for a fifth-round pick in the 2026 NHL draft. All he had done before Tuesday was score six goals in his first seven games — that after four goals in 41 games with the Predators this season.
So there they were Tuesday night at the Lenovo Center, Jankowski departing a team whose season will end soon for a playoff team with Stanley Cup aspirations while Skjei toils for one of the worst teams in the Western Conference.
Both were able to catch up with former teammates Monday night for dinner and banter, but going on the ice to compete had to produce a weird sensation.
“It’s tough because you’re lining up against guys you were going to war with not that long ago,” Brind’Amour said of Jankowski, who played well enough Tuesday to earn more playing time from the coach.
Skjei was traded to the Canes from the New York Rangers in 2020, just before the pandemic shut everything down. When that season resumed for the playoffs, he was quickly matched against the Rangers in a preliminary round, with differing emotions.
It was more of the same Tuesday. A veteran of five straight playoff runs with the Canes, after playing more than 300 games for Carolina, Skjei returned to Raleigh for the first time.
“There are certain guys who come through your organization who do a little extra and they mean that much more for the way they played and how they handled themselves,” Brind’Amour said Tuesday morning. “He was one of them.”
Skjei, who once quarterbacked the Canes’ power play, was credited with an assist on the Preds’ first-period score against the NHL’s second-rated penalty kill. The Canes had three shorthanded chances before goalie Pyotr Kochetkov couldn’t corral the puck and Bunting collected it and scored with six seconds left in the power play.
The Preds made it 2-0 in the second when Evangelista took a stretch pass and feinting a forehand in the slot before getting in closer to catch Kochetkov out of position.
Hall finally got the puck past Saros on the second-period power play. Carrying the puck into the zone with speed down the left side, he dangled the puck on Saros and scored with a backhand as Skjei attempted to lift his stick.
The Canes’ Seth Jarvis, with the primary assist, picked up his 200th career point.
It was the first game after a long road trip for Carolina — the Canes flew in from California about 5:30 a.m. Monday morning. After winning twice on the three-game swing, they could not beat a team that was 1-4-1 in its last six.
The Canes’ loss on the trip was a 7-2 beating by the Los Angeles Kings that was Kochetkov’s worst game of the season — seven goals on 25 shots. He was fighting the puck again early in Tuesday’s game.
The Canes again were without forward Andrei Svechnikov, out for a sixth game with an upper body injury. Svechnikov could return Friday against the Canadiens.
This story was originally published March 25, 2025 at 9:44 PM.
