Similar to their series vs. Florida, Tampa Bay won the first two games of their series on the road. With limited offense, the Lightning were able to sneak two goals past Alex Nedeljkovic. On the other hand, Carolina had plenty of shots but only one got through the pipes, leading to a 2-1 win in Game 2 for the Bolts.
Game Recap
The first period was controlled for the most part by the Hurricanes. Carolina outshot Tampa Bay 8-6, however, no goals found their way in. With 1:29 remaining in the first, Martin Necas drew a holding penalty against Alex Killorn. Luckily, the Lightning got some help from the hockey gods and were able to kill off the penalty.
Shortly after Tampa Bay killed off Killorn’s penalty, they hopped onto the Power Play. The Lightning could not cash in on Sebastian Aho’s slashing penalty. However, Alex Killorn threw a puck on net from the point for the Bolts first goal of the game, later in the period. With 3:52 remaining in the middle frame, Carolina was sent to the penalty box once again for a Vincent Trocheck tripping penalty. During the penalty kill, Carolina’s Necas and Aho found themselves on an odd-man rush. Although a goal was bound to happen, Vasilevskiy made an incredible poke check to end that idea. After the second, Tampa Bay lead 1-0, but they were outshot 13-5 in the second.
In the third, Tampa started on the penalty kill thanks to a Pat Maroon high-sticking penalty. Once again, Tampa Bay was able to shut down Carolina’s power play. Later and eight minutes into the third, Cirelli scored a nifty backhand goal to extend the Lightning lead. However, Andrei Svechnikov spoiled Vasilevskiy’s perfect night with 1:30 left in attempt to salvage the game for Carolina. Once again, Carolina outshot Tampa Bay. However, they were not good enough to beat Andrei Vasilevskiy, who had 31 saves on 32 shots.
Takeaways/Notes
- When the Lightning take a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven series, they hold an all-time series record of 7-0 (1.000); they are 11-6 (.647) in series’ that are tied 1-1.
- When the Hurricanes are tied 1-1 in a best-of-seven series, they hold an all-time series record of 5-6 (.455); they are 2-6 (.250) all-time when they trail 2-0.
- Alex Killorn opened the scoring while skating in his 100th career playoff game. Tampa Bay has scored first in seven contests so far in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs – the most among all teams – and owns a 5-1 record when doing so.
- Alex Killorn scored his fifth goal of the postseason – the only player with more in 2021: Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon (8).
- Victor Hedman collected an assist on Anthony Cirelli’s goal which gave Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead. Hedman leads all players during the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs with 10 assists.
- Tampa Bay secured a 2-0 lead for the second straight series to start the postseason – a feat achieved by only one of the past 19 defending Stanley Cup champions (PIT: 2017 en route to a second straight title).
- Andrei Vasilevskiy became the third Lightning goaltender to allow one or fewer goals in three straight playoff contests, joining Ben Bishop (3 GP in 2016) and Nikolai Khabibulin (3 GP in 2003).
- Since 2011, Tampa Bay has won 34 one-goal games during the playoffs – tied with Washington (34) for the most such wins among all teams.
- Andrei Vasilevskiy (39-24) made 31 saves to earn his 39th career postseason win and tied Nikolai Khabibulin (39-31) for the most among Russian-born goaltenders in NHL history.
Up Next
Up 2-0 in the series, the Tampa Bay Lightning will play Game 3 of the best-of-seven series on Thursday. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:00 PM EST.