NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The Carolina Hurricanes scored on their

5-on-3 power play. The Nashville Predators couldn't convert on

theirs.

That was the edge Carolina needed Tuesday night in a 2-1 victory

over the Predators. Rod Brind'Amour and Erik Cole scored goals to

give the Hurricanes the victory.

"This was tough game and we knew it was big game for us,''

Carolina coach Paul Maurice said. "I have a good feeling about us

right now.

"Every team is going to come out and compete, no matter how

talented or skilled their team is. Nashville works as hard as any

team in the league. I think we might be a little more talented than

they are, but if we don't match their work ethic, then we don't win

the game.''

Rod Brind'Amour scored the power-play goal for the Hurricanes.

He took a tap pass from Ron Francis and shot the puck under the

left arm of a sprawling Mike Dunham with 54 seconds left in the

first period.

"Billy Houlder had the puck and he lost it,'' Nashville coach

Barry Trotz said. "The puck bounced off the wall to the middle of

the ice. Carolina threw it to the net and got a rebound goal. It

was that simple.''

The Predators had a flurry of shots on their two-man advantage

but failed to find a weakness in Carolina goaltender Arturs Irbe,

who stopped 24 shots while filling in for injured starter Kevin

Weekes. Dunham had 33 saves for the Predators.

"Carolina is a good team,'' Trotz said. "They are big and

strong on the wall. They're fast and they don't give you much room.

It was hard to generate a lot of stuff.''

After a scoreless second period, Vernon Fiddler tied the game

for the Predators at the 2:03 mark of the third period. Fiddler

skated down the right side of the ice and beat Irbe.

Nashville appeared to take the lead at 11:40 of the third period

but the goal was waved off by the referee. Scott Hartnell shot the

puck and it appeared to have trickled under Irbe's pads and into

the net. But it was waived off by referee Paul Stewart who blew the

play dead thinking that Irbe had successfully covered the puck up.

"I saw the replay and it was in,'' Trotz said. "Stewart blew

the whistle and there was no hope after that.''

The Hurricanes took a 2-1 advantage at 11:27 of the third period

when Erik Cole fired the rebound of a slap shot from the blue line

by David Tanabe into an empty net to the left of Dunham.

Trotz pointed to a couple of plays as possible turning points

for the Predators.

"It could have been the 5-on-3, or it could have been the puck

when the whistle blew early.''

Game notes
Brind'Amour leads the Hurricanes in points with 25 (11

goals, 14 assists). ... Carolina's Sami Kapanen got an assist on

the Brind'Amour goal, but injured his groin on the play and did not

return to the game. ... Nashville signed free agent Reid Simpson

who played his first NHL game since playing 26 games last season

with the team.