Regular Season, Game 63: Hurricanes v. Tampa Bay Lightning

The deadline has come and gone, so now it's back to business as usual. The Hurricanes have dropped four straight and had their home point streak ended on Sunday night in a 2-0 loss to the New York Rangers. Alexander Georgiev stoned the Canes for 60 minutes as they were shut out for just the third time this season. Tonight, they'll welcome in the Tampa Bay Lightning for their second meeting this season. They met down in Tampa on November 9 in a very tightly contested rematch of the second round of last season's playoffs. The Lightning opened the scoring in the second period courtesy of Steven Stamkos, but Teuvo Teravainen tied it up midway through the third period on the power play and the game would need overtime. After Brady Skjei's winner was called back since the Canes were offsides, Martin Necas beat Andrei Vasilevskiy clean to give the Canes a 2-1 win. Frederik Andersen only faced 18 shots in the win. He'll be the starter tonight. The Canes were relatively quiet compared to the other playoff teams in the Eastern Conference, though they did make one move, acquiring Max Domi from the Columbus Blue Jackets in a three-team deal involving the Florida Panthers. Domi won't play tonight, but Nino Niederreiter will be back in the lineup after serving his one-game suspension. This will allow the Canes to return to their normal 12/6, instead of the 11/7 they played with against New York with Smith serving as the extra.

Tampa Bay is beginning a four-game road trip in Raleigh tonight and will be played four games in six days. Their last game was also a loss to the Rangers, 2-1 on Saturday night. They allowed a power play goal with 16 seconds left to drop the decision in regulation. Brayden Point scored the only goal for Tampa and Vasilevskiy made 25 saves in the loss. Given how he's one of the most-utilized goalies in the league, it'd be crazy to think he won't get the start tonight to give us the same matchup in the net we had back in November. Tampa trails Florida in the Atlantic Divison and has both Toronto and Boston breathing down their necks for the second spot. It's the usual suspects at the top for the Lightning with Stamkos and Hedman both over 60 points and both Point and Kucherov are putting up huge numbers despite missing a lot of time. Vasilevskiy is still the best goalie in the world despite not being the frontrunner for the Vezina this season. They added at the deadline, acquiring Brandon Hagel from Chicago, Nick Paul from Ottawa, and Riley Nash from Arizona. These two know each other very well since they met eight times in the regular season and five more times in the postseason last year. The Canes need to find a way to break out of this slump because it's becoming a little more worrisome with each loss. The lead in the division is thinning, so a win tonight would be huge against a team like the Lightning. 

1st Period

Scoring

None

Thoughts

I thought the Lightning were the better team for most of the period, but the Canes built a period in the final minutes. They got a couple good chances on Vasilevskiy and were swarming. This game could've easily been 1-0 for the Lightning after Andersen mishandled the puck, but Stamkos put the puck off the crossbar and it stayed out. Tampa also had the only power play of the period, yet the Canes' penalty kill was on the job and made it look relatively easy. DeAngelo has been pretty noticeable in the offensive zone, as had Jarvis. I'm not at all surprised that this game is scoreless after the first. Both goalies answered the call when pressured. I'd like to see the Canes score for a change and not allowed themselves to get goalied again. 

2nd Period

Scoring

(CAR) 6:56- Martin Necas (10) PP (assisted by Ethan Bear (9) & Seth Jarvis (13))

(TB) 9:39- Nick Paul (12) (assisted by Ross Colton (15))

(CAR) 13:55- Tony DeAngelo (10) PP (assisted by Andrei Svechnikov (32) & Teuvo Teravainen (32))

Thoughts

The Canes hadn't scored a power play goal since the win over Seattle 16 days ago. Not only did the second unit open the scoring courtesy of a struggling Martin Necas, but the first unit also scored as well on a Trocheck deflection. This was a much better period from the home squad and while the Lightning did tie it for a few minutes on a beautiful deflection of their own, the Canes put 20 shots on Vasilevskiy and made his life tough in all situations. The Aho line is so close to scoring. The fourth line has been putting some serious pressure on the back check. Andersen has gotten some help from his posts tonight. The game is getting a little chippy as indicated by the little skirmish from Cole and Cirelli in the dying seconds of the period. I expect that to be constant for the third period as the Canes have to kill 1:47 of a penalty to open the period. The Lightning aren't going anywhere just yet. 

3rd Period

Scoring

(CAR) 8:07- Sebastian Aho (28) (assisted by Seth Jarvis (14) & Jaccob Slavin (29))

(TB) 19:00- Alex Killorn (19) (assisted by Victor Hedman (45) & Nikita Kucherov (22))

Thoughts

Sebastian Aho finally got one to go in and that would be enough for the Canes to get the win. Andersen got a little more post luck with Kucherov ringing the post and while he didn't stand a chance on the Killorn goal late, I thought he was strong throughout the third to preserve the lead. This game could've been far worse with all the great chances the Canes generated throughout the third period, so hats off to Vasilevskiy for allowing his team to stay it in until the very end. I think the big takeaway will be what happened during the last minute of the game. After Killorn made it 3-2, they pulled Vasilevskiy again and had some chances before Kucherov took a bad interference penalty on Aho, then tried to go after him once the horn sounded to end the game. It was a classless move from a superstar player that was adamant he hadn't taken what was a crystal clear penalty. None of that matters because the Canes won.

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Seth Jarvis (2 Assists)

Playing on the top line with Aho and Turbo, Jarvis has been putting together some really good games. He has four points, two multi-point games, in his last three games. His assist on the Aho goal was so subtle that I didn't realize he touched it. He laid a couple hits tonight and looked like he could've scored a goal too. 

Second Star- Tony DeAngelo (Goal)

It was initially credited to Trocheck but after watching the replay, it clearly goes off a defensive stick and will be DeAngelo's goal. The power play has looked so much better with him back in the lineup. He got a couple shots through on the power play and was a physical presence. He blocked a shot in front of Andersen that left him in some pain, but he muscled through it. 

First Star- Sebastian Aho (Goal)

He's only credited with two shots tonight, but Aho looked like he was a little snake-bitten through two periods. He flubbed a few shots and was clearly frustrated. Getting him that goal in the third period, the eventual game-winner, was huge for everyone. He was around it all night, including drawing the late penalty on Kucherov to ice it, and was finally rewarded for his efforts. 

Final Thoughts

This was a strong way to end a four-game losing streak. I thought the Canes really established their game in the final 40 minutes and were rewarded handsomely. Both power play units found their way onto the scoresheet in the second period and the entire team made it hard on Vasilevskiy all night. Frederik Andersen outplayed Andrei Vasilevskiy for the second time this season as the Canes ensured they'd win the season series with a meeting looming in a week to close it. The intrigue will shift to Thursday night and the Hurricanes' debut of Max Domi after the trade. His first time in a Canes' sweater will be on ESPN as the Canes host the St. Louis Blues. Nationally televised games are always a point of contention for everyone, so I'm interested to see how the team responds. Domi's debut will be a fun storyline throughout the broadcast. I know what he brings to the team, but am curious to see how he meshes with everyone in his first game. He seems excited to be here, so that's a good start. The points tonight are great, especially against the two-time defending champions, but the work is far from over.