2022-23 Regular Season, Game 61: Hurricanes (40-12-8) v. Tampa Bay Lightning

The Hurricanes notched their 40th win of the season on Friday night by completely dismantling the Arizona Coyotes. While Arizona is in a rebuild and just traded away a ton of their players, it doesn't make what the Canes did any less impressive. Paul Stastny opened the scoring and after a flurry from Arizona, Sebastian Aho finished a breakaway to give the Canes a 2-0 lead after one. Jaccob Slavin unleashed a bullet early in the second period to make it 3-0. The Coyotes got one back midway through the period but the Canes' power play took over from there. They would score on both of their chances in the second with Shayne Gostisbehere getting the first in his team debut, then Aho getting his second goal of the night to make it 5-1. Martin Necas uncorked one on an early power play in the third to stretch the lead to 6-1 and that's how it would end as Antti Raanta stopped 17 shots to improve to 13-0-2 in his last 15 decisions. Brent Burns set a new career high with four assists, Aho and Necas finished with three points each, and Slavin and Andrei Svechnikov had two points each. It was a complete team effort to finish their short trip. The Canes are now back at home for a quick one as they welcome in the three-time Eastern Conference champions. 

Projected Lines/Pairs

Andrei Svechnikov-Sebastian Aho-Seth Jarvis

Teuvo Teravainen-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Martin Necas

Jordan Martinook-Jordan Staal-Jesper Fast

Stefan Noesen-Paul Stastny-Derek Stepan

Jaccob Slavin-Brent Burns

Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce

Shayne Gostisbehere-Jalen Chatfield

Frederik Andersen

Antti Raanta

Injuries/Scratches- Calvin de Haan (healthy), Dylan Coghlan (healthy), Jesse Pujujarvi (recently acquired)

IR- Max Pacioretty (Achilles), Ondrej Kase (LTIR- concussion)

The Canes will deploy the same group of 18 skaters from the win in Arizona. After scoring six goals, I don't see any reason for them to change. Frederik Andersen will get the start for the Hurricanes. He's looking to reverse his recent fortunes, losing his last two starts and allowing three goals in each. This will be his 20th start against Tampa Bay, though his record is just 8-10-1 in his previous 19. 

Tonight's Opponent: Tampa Bay Lightning (37-20-5, 79 Points, 3rd in the Atlantic Division)

The Lightning are struggling at the moment, winning just twice in their last nine games. To further that, they've lost their last four games and it has started to take its toll. In Tampa Bay's loss yesterday, Jon Cooper benched Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, and Brayden Point in the third period to send a sharp message that he expects more from his team. To this point, the Lightning were down 5-1 to the Buffalo Sabres. Point scored in the first period on the power play with Kucherov and Stamkos picking up the assists. From there, Buffalo scored five unanswered goals, leading to the stars being benched. Alex Killorn scored twice in the third period, including a short-handed goal, to bring the Lightning back within two goals but it wouldn't be enough as they dropped their fourth straight. Brian Elliott took the loss, stopping 29 shots to lose his fourth straight decision. Tampa Bay remains one of the deepest teams in the league. Kucherov's 88 points are the third-most in the league and his 65 assists trail only Connor McDavid. Point has 39 goals, tied for sixth-most. Stamkos is playing at a little over a point per game with 65 points in 62 games. They're getting scoring from everywhere with seven players over 40 points and 11 players with at least 20 points. Andrei Vasilevskiy remains one of the most used goalies in the league and while his numbers are slightly worse than normal, he's still one of the league's best. 

Last Meeting v. Carolina- Four months is a long time between meetings but that's how long it has been since the two teams met in Tampa. Seth Jarvis got the Canes on the board in the first period, the lone marker of the period. Carolina found themselves in penalty trouble in the second. Tampa Bay capitalized with Ross Colton tying it up on the man advantage. Nick Paul put Tampa ahead a few minutes later but Martin Necsa got a power-play goal for the Canes to even it up. Before the end of the period, Kucherov would bury a goal during a 5-on-3 with a minute left in the second to take a 3-2 lead into the break. Despite dominating the game in shots, the Canes were playing from behind but they got an extremely unlikely short-handed goal from Brady Skjei on a seemingly unassuming shot to tie the game with 6:26 left. The game would go to overtime and though each team had their chances to win, Vasilevskiy and Frederik Andersen kept things tied. This forced the game to a shootout and after six rounds, Sebastian Aho found a way to beat Vasileskiy to earn the second point. 

Tampa Bay's Starting Goalie: Andrei Vasilevskiy (28-15-3, 2.61 GAA, .917 SV%)- If the season ended today, Vasilevskiy would post his worst save percentage and GAA since 2017-18. He still finished that season with the most wins in the league and was third in Vezina voting. He'd led the league in wins for five straight seasons and while it doesn't seem like he'll do it again this season, Vasilevskiy remains one of the toughest goalies in the league to beat. He's been a little hot and cold over his last five starts. Though his 2-1-2 record is fine and he had a 45-save shutout against Detroit last Saturday, Vasileskiy has allowed three or more goals in three of his last four, including five goals in his last start on Thursday. He's 11-4-3 in 18 starts against the Canes, not including a five-game victory in the postseason two seasons ago. 

Tampa Bay Player to Watch: Michael Eyssimont- I'm not convinced that Eyssimont doesn't have nightmares about the Hurricanes. Tampa Bay is his third team this season with stops in Winnipeg and San Jose before being traded before the deadline to the Lightning. Eyssimont has scored in both games he's played against the Canes, accounting for half of his goal total. With Winnipeg, he saw the Canes come back from 3-0 to tie and force overtime. With the Sharks, he scored three points but Carolina once again erased a deficit late in the third before winning in overtime. He's played very well against the Canes and it going to hope today is a little different. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

(CAR) 6:30- Andrei Svechnikov (22) (unassisted)

(CAR) 17:13- Teuvo Teravainen (8) PP (assisted by Jesperi Kotkaniemi (15) & Shayne Gostisbehere (22)

2nd Period

(CAR) 11:57- Teuvo Teravainen (9) (assisted by Martin Necas (32) & Jesperi Kotkaniemi (16))

(CAR) Shayne Gostisbehere (12) PP (assisted by Martin Necas (33) & Jesperi Kotkaniemi (17))

3rd Period

(CAR) 11:03- Teuvo Teravainen (10) PP (assisted by Shayne Gostisbehere (23) & Jesperi Kotkaniemi (18))

(CAR) Jesperi Kotkaniemi (12) PP (assisted by Brent Burns (38) & Martin Necas (34))

Let's Talk About the Game

When the Canes routed the Coyotes on Friday night, we had pretty much expected that to be the case. What we saw in Raleigh this afternoon was unexpected and caught me by surprise. While the Lightning have struggled in the last few games, I thought the message that Jon Cooper sent yesterday was going to wake them up and turn this into a dogfight. I've never seen Tampa Bay play this poorly and with this little enthusiasm. From the drop of the puck to the final horn, this was all Carolina. Before we knew how this was going to shape up, Seth Jarvis was guilty of a pretty soft holding call against Nikita Kucherov. It's well-documented that Tampa Bay has often killed the Canes with their special teams. Maybe we should've known what was coming when Martin Necas had the two best chances during the sequence, though Andrei Vasilevskiy was ready for it. It didn't take long for the Canes to get on the board as Andrei Svechnikov snapped a wicked shot over the shoulder of Vasilevskiy that was in and out of the net very quickly to take the 1-0 lead. Late in the period, the Canes' power play would get their first chance following a 3-for-4 night on Friday. They picked up right where they left off as Jesperi Kotkaniemi took advantage of Alex Killorn losing his edge as he put a perfect cross-seam pass on the stick of Teuvo Teravainen. There was little wasted time as Teravainen put a shot in the same place Svechnikov did to double the lead. Jordan Staal would be denied on a chance right after the second goal as the Canes had to be satisfied with a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. 

The second period would begin with an unfortunate injury to Tampa Bay. On a seemingly harmless play, Svechnikov gave Victor Hedman a little shove that would send Hedman into the boards awkwardly. He appeared to be grabbing at his lower back and while he did try to come back, Hedman would only play one more shift later in the period before being ruled out for the rest of the game. When the action returned, the Canes continued their dominance. They were throwing everything they could at Vasilevskiy to extend their lead only to be denied. For all he was doing to keep his team in the game, Vasilevskiy made a crucial mistake and it would cost his team. The Tampa Bay goalie tried to play a puck around the boards and he threw it right to Kotkaniemi. Kotkaniemi threw it to Martin Necas and he found Teravainen on the doorstep for a tap-in and his second goal of the night. Another unfortunate injury would strike for Tampa Bay as Kucherkov took a puck to the face that would take him out for the rest of the period. It was around this time that the bad blood started to come back out. There were a few skirmishes that took place behind the net and one of them would earn the Canes another power play. The Lightning had been unable to get anything going but arguably their best chance of the night came in the form of a short-handed breakaway for Brandon Hagel. Frederik Andersen thought about coming out to play the puck but he wasn't going to get there. Hagel put forth an excellent shot but it rang off of the glove-side post and stayed out of the net. On the other end, Shayne Gostisbehere didn't miss as he fired a one-timer from the point that Vasilevskiy never saw for his second power-play goal in as many games since the trade late in the period. The Canes continued to control the puck and by the time the period ended, the Hurricanes had held the Lightning without a shot. It is the first time this season that a team didn't record a shot in a period and is the fewest shots any team has had after 40 minutes this season. 

To the credit of the Lightning, they came out with a little fire at the start of the third period. After zero shots in the second, they were throwing everything they could at Andersen. The Canes netminder would not be beaten as he kept making saves to keep the shutout alive. His best save of the night would come on a 2-on-1 as he stretched his blocker as far as he could to get just enough of the puck to keep it out. The hits came coming for the Lightning after that though as they'd be called for another penalty and during the ensuing advantage, Mikhail Sergachev would block a shot that would keep him down in some pain. The Canes didn't waste much time after that as Teravainen completed his hat trick by putting home a rebound, the second hat trick of his career. Things got interesting late as tempers boiled over for the Lightning. Kuchekov seemed to take a run at Brett Pesce and tried to level a low hit along the boards with the puck nowhere near either man. Pesce took exception to it and gave Kucherov a nudge. From the bench, Zach Bogosian skated across the ice and got in the face of Pesce. The two discussed dinner plans and were both shown to the locker rooms for the remainder of the contest. To add to the mayhem, Tampa Bay had six players on the ice when it happened so to go along with the penalty that Kucherov was given for clipping, they were also given a too-many-men penalty. This put the Canes on a two-man advantage for two minutes and because it's a power play chance, they were going to score again. Kotkaniemi completed the best contest of his career with a high tip that beat Vasilevskiy for the Canes' fourth power-play goal and their sixth of the contest. Tampa Bay was pretty much dead by this point and after mustering only 14 shots, the horn sounded as the Canes earned the 6-0 victory. 

The Canes and Lightning seem to be on opposite ends of things right now. Tampa Bay is reeling after their fifth loss in a row, while the Canes have 12 goals in their last two games, including seven goals on the power play. I won't say that Gostisbehere is the only reason the power play is on the right track but he now has two goals and four points since joining the team, all coming on the power play. Kotkaniemi's five points give him 14 points in his last 14 games and 30 overall for the season. Necas has 20 points in his last 17 contests and his third three-point game in his last seven as he extended his team lead with 59. Brent Burns assisted on the final goal to add him to the 50-point club. Teravainen hit double digits in goals, the 11th Hurricanes to reach it this season. Only six players recorded points in this game but they combined for 16 points. The fact that Andersen finished with a shutout is a complete afterthought. He only faced 14 shots and really only had to play two periods. It'll probably be the easiest shutout he ever has. The cherry on top was the cute Storm Surge featuring the young kids of the players as the Canes reminded us all who they really do it for. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Shayne Gostisbehere (Goal, 2 Assists)

The new guy has really fit in nicely in his two games with the team. The power play has jumped into the top half of the league after going 4-for-5 today and 7-for-9 in the last two games. Gostisbehere is responsible for two of those goals and he already has a three-point game. He's firing on all cylinders right now and has found a solid home in Carolina. 

Second Star- Teuvo Teravainen (3 Goals)

Usually, the player with the hat trick would be the top star of the game and he probably could be. It's more of a 1A/1B situation today. Teravainen has been struggling to score consistently this season but when he does score, it's usually on special teams. He now has five of his ten goals on the power play, the fourth-most on the team. He's now the fifth Hurricane with a hat trick this season. 

First Star- Jesperi Kotkaniemi (Goal, 4 Assists)

Fewer Hurricanes have been as hot as Kotkaniemi in recent weeks. He's tied his career-high in goals by scoring his 12th today and is now very close to setting a new high in points. His entire line was magnificent today, combining for 11 of the team's 16 points. Though three of his assists were secondary assists, the one primary assist was pretty sweet. It doesn't matter how the points come, just as long as they're helping the team win. 

What's Next

This week is a busy one but it has two very distinct parts. The first part should net the Canes four points if they play at this level. They'll be in Montreal to begin their week on Tuesday night in what could be the team debut of Jesse Puljujarvi. Montreal fell 4-3 today in Vegas and won't play before Tuesday. The Canes will return home for a game Thursday night against Philadelphia. The Flyers were 3-1 winners today against Detroit and they'll be in Tampa Bay on Tuesday. The second part of the week comes in the form of a back-to-back over the weekend. It begins in Raleigh on Saturday with Vegsa coming to town for their second meeting in ten days. The week will end with the final meeting of the season between the top two in the division as the Canes and Devils will collide in New Jersey.