Hurricanes 5, Predators 4, OT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The Carolina Hurricanes went from controlling play for two periods to watching a two-goal lead vanish with help from a bizarre ricochet off the glass by a dumped-in puck.

It still wasn't enough to derail their growing home-ice advantage.

Frantisek Kaberle scored on a penalty shot midway through overtime and Rod Brind'Amour added two goals to lead the Hurricanes past the Nashville Predators 5-4 on Friday night, giving Carolina its sixth straight win.

Andrew Hutchinson and Erik Cole also scored for Carolina, which beat one of the Western Conference's top teams for the second time this week. The Hurricanes, who defeated Central Division-leading Detroit on Tuesday, moved into a tie with Philadelphia with an NHL-best 62 points.

Cory Stillman added three assists for a team that has a league-best 19 home wins.

Kaberle was awarded his penalty shot when Scott Hartnell - who was trying to stop a rush up ice by Carolina - threw his stick along the ice to slow Kaberle as he skated in for a breakaway against Tomas Vokoun. Kaberle didn't get off a shot then, but took advantage right after.

Kaberle hesitated as he took the puck to the left side and flipped it by Vokoun at 2:31 of the extra period to give Carolina an 11-0-1 home mark the past month. Vokoun was then called for a misconduct, apparently for tossing his stick into the boards as he left the ice.

That capped a wild night that saw Carolina blow a 3-1 third-period lead and later surrender an overtime-forcing goal with about a minute left in regulation. It also came with the team already thin on its back line as defensemen Mike Commodore and Bret Hedican were lost for stretches with injuries.

``I think the character of this team showed through,'' Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette said.

Martin Erat scored a pair of third-period goals for the Predators. Steve Sullivan and Kimmo Timonen each added goals, and Vokoun made 28 saves despite being under steady pressure.

The Predators needed a strong third period and a fluke bounce on Timonen's dump-in off the boards to tie it 3-3 in a game that Erat ultimately said the team ``didn't deserve to win.''

``That's the way things go once in a while,'' Timonen said. ``We were bad in the first period. There were too many chances for them, and when you fall back 3-1, it's hard to come back against a good team.''

Erat scored off a feed from Paul Kariya early in the third to make it 3-2. The Predators tied it when Timonen's toss off the boards drew goalie Martin Gerber behind the net. The puck took an odd bounce and slid past Gerber, who made a diving attempt to get back to the crease in time.

Brind'Amour put Carolina ahead on the power play late in the third, pushing a rebound of his own shot underneath Vokoun at 15:56. That man advantage came when Erat was given four penalty minutes for high-sticking Hedican while the two were chasing the puck. The hit, which appeared to be inadvertent, left Hedican bleeding on the ice before he was helped to the bench while holding a towel to his nose.

But Erat made up for his mistake with about a minute left, taking a give-and-go pass from Kariya and beating Gerber from the right circle to force overtime.

``We seem to find a way to make it interesting for everybody,'' Brind'Amour said. ``That's not the way it should've went. The first two periods we should've scored more ... but we hung in there.''

Notes: Hedican returned to the game, but Commodore stayed out after sustaining a lower body injury in the second period. Carolina was already without defensemen Aaron Ward (hernia surgery) and Glen Wesley (right knee). ... Sullivan's first-period goal extended his point streak to four games (four goals, two assists). ... Brind'Amour's first-period goal was the seventh scored short-handed for Carolina this season. ... The Predators recalled D Shea Weber from Milwaukee of the AHL. Weber had two shots in 12:34 of ice time.