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Ekholm scores in OT, Predators beat Hurricanes 2-1

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) Mattias Ekholm scored with 1:51 left in overtime to lift the Nashville Predators over the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 on Saturday night.

Paul Gaustad tied the game for Nashville with a short-handed goal in the second period. Ekholm assisted and Gaustad got his first goal of the season.

Victor Rask put Carolina ahead 8:58 into the first with his 11th goal.

Nashville’s Pekka Rinne had 27 saves and Carolina’s Eddie Lack stopped 19.

In overtime, Ekholm corralled a deflected pass from Filip Forsberg, skated in on Lack and beat the goalie top shelf.

Nashville captain and defenseman Shea Weber played in his 724th game for the franchise, passing Martin Erat for second on the club’s career list. David Legwand played in 956 games.

Carolina’s Phil Di Giuseppe left with an upper-body injury in the second period and did not return. He assisted on Rask’s first-period goal.

Nashville coach Peter Laviolette coached the Hurricanes to the 2006 Stanley Cup, while his assistant Kevin McCarthy was an assistant with the Hurricanes from 1999-2009. The only remaining Carolina players from the 2006 team are captain Eric Staal and goalie Cam Ward.

Jeff Skinner assisted on Rask’s goal for his 21st point this season.

NOTES: The Predators had won the teams’ only other meeting of the season 2-1 in Nashville on Oct. 8. ... Carolina visits Edmonton on Monday night in the first of a two-game Western Canada trip. ... Nashville hosts Winnipeg on Tuesday night before heading on a four-game road trip. ... Carolina C Jay McClement missed the game with an illness after playing in 198 consecutive contests. D Michal Jordan was a healthy scratch for the Hurricanes. ... The Predators’ healthy scratches were LW Austin Watson and D Anthony Bitetto and D Petter Granberg.