Whitney, Staal score in Canes' 2-0 pre-season win over Preds

RALEIGH, N.C. - Ray Whitney and Eric Staal both scored to lift the Carolina Hurricanes to a 2-0 win over the Nashville Predators on Sunday in the final pre-season game for both teams.

Whitney gave Carolina a 1-0 lead with 12:41 left after he got to a rebound of Patrick Eaves' shot in the slot and sent the puck past Dan Ellis, who stopped 26 of 27 shots.

Staal added an empty-net goal with four seconds remaining to seal the victory. He did the same thing in the Hurricanes' previous game against Nashville on Thursday.

Carolina's Cam Ward stopped all 31 shots he faced for his first shutout of the pre-season. Nashville was 0-of-5 on the power play, and Carolina was 0-3.

The Hurricanes outshot Nashville 37-31, including a 17-8 advantage in the final period.

Carolina, which won its final three exhibition games, will open the regular season on Friday at home against the Florida Panthers. Nashville will play at St. Louis on Friday to start the season.

Hurricanes captain Rod BrindAmour made his first appearance of the pre-season after recovering from a knee injury that ended last season early.