The Hurricanes had plenty to celebrate after Game 1 against the Predators

This was what Carolina Hurricanes fans have missed the most.

Playoff hockey at PNC Arena. Tailgating outside. A loud, lively crowd of 12,000 inside.

The pandemic changed so much in our daily lives. The need for normalcy has been almost overwhelming and sports have been a good respite. And especially hockey.

For the first time since May of 2019, the Canes had playoff hockey at PNC Arena on Monday. The two-year wait ended with Carolina, with a strong third period, beating the Nashville Predators 5-2 in Game 1 of their opening-round Stanley Cup playoff series.

The captain led the way for the Canes. Jordan Staal scored twice, giving Carolina their first lead of the playoffs, then the first two-goal lead of the playoffs by any of the 16 teams still playing.

Nino Niederreiter’s score at 2:26 of the third period gave the Canes 3-2 lead and Canes fans were in fiull throat. It was even louder when Staal collected the rebound of a Warren Foegele shot and muscled a shot past goalie Juuse Saros.

Andrei Svechnikov’s empty-net goal with 1:47 left in regulation finished it off for the Canes.

Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour turned to rookie goalie Alex Nedeljkovic on the playoff opener. Nedeljkovic fought the puck at times but finished with 22 saves.

Filip Forsberg’s 27th career playoff goal in the first period pushed the Preds ahead 1-0. Erik Haula, a former Canes forward, scored in the second period for a 2-2 tie after Staal had beaten Saros with a tight-angle shot.

(Earlier game updates)

Second period: Staal scores

Jordan Staal gave the Canes their first lead of the playoffs with a tight-angled shot that goalie Juuse Saros couldn’t stop, but the Preds later tied it 2-2 in the second period.

With the team playing 4 on 4 after penalties to Filip Forsberg and then Teuvo Teravainen, Staal took the puck into the left circle in the Preds zone. As he neared the goal line he turned and ripped a rising shot past Saros’ head at 4:19 of the second for a 2-1 lead. Brett Pesce earned his second assist of the game.

The Preds tied it as Erik Haula, a former Canes forward, flipped a knuckler of a shot from the slot that got past Alex Nedeljkovic at 8:41. The score came after Canes defenseman Jake Bean failed to clear the puck up the wall.

The Canes have had four power plays in the game and seven power-play shots but have not been able to convert. The Preds are 0-3 on the power play.

Carolina had a 25-15 shooting edge (48-28 in total attempts) after 40 minutes, and 22-12 edge in scoring chances (9-4 in high-danger chances). Andrei Svechnikov has seven shots on goal.

First period: Teravainen scores

Filip Forsberg scored the firts goal of the playoffs as the Pres jumped ahead 1-0, but the Canes quickly answered on a goal by Teuvo Teravainen and it was 1-1 after the first.

Brett Pesce got off a shot through traffic from the right point that Teravainen, with one hand on the stick as he jostled with Ryan Ellis, redirected the puck between the circles at 13:41. Steven Lorenz earned an assist on the goal, his first career Stanley Cup playoff point.

The game has had a physical edge in the opening period, as expected. On a penalty kill, Canes captain Jordan Staal separated Ryan Johansen from the puck along the boards and cleared it. An enraged Johansen followed Staal to the bench as both were leaving the ice, jawing away.

The Canes closed the first with a 13-10 shooting edge and 10-6 advantage in scoring chances. The Preds were credited with 19 hits to the Canes’ 14.

Game setup: Canes tough enough?

The Hurricanes are skilled enough to be successful in the Stanley Cup playoffs, most would agree.

The Canes are well-coached enough. They’re balanced enough.

But tough enough? That remains to be seen.

The playoffs are about rough-and-tumble play and not for the faint of heart or weak of flesh. Anyone who has watched the Caps and Bruins or the Lightning and Panthers go at it to open the playoffs the past few days witnessed a succession of heavy hits and body checks with a purpose, pushing and shoving, sticks high in scrums.

Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour doesn’t believe the Canes will have a problem with any style of game, whether in physical or letting speed and skill decide it.

“I think we’ve shown that all year,” he said Sunday. “I have no doubt in that. I’m not worried about it. Of course, the first round, especially, is the most physical round. Everybody’s finishing checks hard and energy is high.

“Then it starts to kind of dwindle a little. The second round is still pretty physical and hard, but it actually gets a little bit less as it moves along because guys start getting worn out. I think we’ve shown all year, whatever the game is, whatever type of game is played, we have the capability of kind of adapting to it.”

The Canes have been bounced out of the playoffs the past two years by the Bruins, a tougher, better team. But the Canes did stand in, physically, with the New York Rangers a year ago in the qualifying round in Toronto, with defenseman Brady Skjei’s crunching hit on forward Jesper Fast, then with the Rangers, setting an early tone.

Fast suffered a concussion and was lost for the series. The Rangers were swept in three games and several New York players later said the Skjei hit affected them adversely and took them away from their game.

“Game 1 and every one is always important, but setting the tone is always big,” Canes captain Jordan Staal said Monday.

The Canes will be missing one of their more physical guys, forward Cedric Paquette, in Game 1. Paquette, who has had a lower-body injury, went through the morning skate Monday but was ruled out of the game by Brind’Amour.

The Canes did add defenseman Jani Hakanpaa from Anaheim at the trade deadline to put some extra thump into the lineup. That could be needed against the Preds.

“The game is going to ramp up physically,” Brind’Amour said. “They have a big team anyway. The more size that we can have, I think that doesn’t hurt you. The intensity picks up. You see more checks finished. You see heavier play in general.”

The lineup

The biggest pregame question Monday was the status of defenseman Jaccob Slavin, who is being called a game-time decision by Brind’Amour. “We’re hopeful he’ll make it in,” he said.

Slavin did ultimately skate in warmups.

Brind’Amour also was coy after the morning skate about his starting goalie. While rookie Alex Nedeljkovic was working the starter’s crease, Brind’Amour did not commit to a starter after the skate. He said Nedeljkovic “might” start but did not rule out Petr Mrazek.

And it was, indeed, Nedeljkovic who led the team to the ice for warmups.

The Canes lines had Sebastian Aho centering Nino Niederreiter and Teuvo Teravainen; Vincent Trocheck centering Warren Foegele and Martin Necas; Staal at center with Andrei Svechnikov and Fast; and Steven Lorentz centering Jordan Martinook and Brock McGinn.

On the back end, Slavin started with Dougie Hamilton, Skjei with Brett Pesce and Jake Bean with Hakanpaa.

Canes callups

The Canes on Monday recalled goaltender Antoine Bibeau, defenseman Max Lajoie and forward Ryan Suzuki from the Chicago Wolves of AHL.

Bibeau, 27, has played four NHL games with Toronto and Colorado from 2016-19, and Lajoie played 62 games with Ottawa. Suzuki , 19, was the Canes’ first-round draft pick in 2019 and played 26 AHL games with Chicago in his first pro season.