The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 on Tuesday night.
Game Recap
The first period was scoreless, and back and forth. Following the first period, Carolina led shots 13-11.
However, the second frame had no shortage of action. The Hurricanes scored three straight goals in the middle period. Goals were scored by Niederreiter, Staal, and Lorentz. In addition, Nino Niederreiter had an assist on Staal’s goal to lead the game in points with two. Brayden Point then wrapped up the second with his 20th goal of the season, making the game 3-1.
To wrap up the game with only 2.3 seconds remaining, Jordan Martinook scored an empty netter for Carolina.
Hurricanes Goalie, Alex Nedeljkovic, was a key part of Carolina’s win. With 26 saves on 27 shots, Nedeljkovic had one of his best games this season. Meanwhile, Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 32 saves. Vasilevskiy has now lost two of his last 3 games (both losses come on home ice).
“Vasy’s been playing great and he played great again tonight, too,” said center Brayden Point. “We didn’t give him a ton of support. That’s a big game. It was a big game and we would have liked to have had it.”
Takeaways
- Tampa Bay turned to Andrei Vasilevskiy rather than Curtis McElhinney for the second night of a back-to-back. The last time Vasilevskiy started on back-to-back nights in the regular season came on Nov. 28-29 of 2017.
- The Lightning (30-14-2, 60 points) fell three points behind Carolina and Florida, both have 63, with 10 games remaining in the regular season.
Up Next
Tampa Bay: The Lightning continue their homestand, and will face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM EST.
Carolina: The Hurricanes will travel to Florida to face the Panthers on Thursday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM EST.