Recap: Canes Claim Moms' Trip Victory In Tampa

TAMPA, Fla. - With special guests in attendance, the Carolina Hurricanes showed their love in the form of a 4-2 decision over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.

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Looking to bounce back from a disappointing defeat on home ice Thursday against St. Louis, the Canes came ready to go from the opening puck drop and took a firm hold of the contest early. Striking in the opening minute for the fifth time this season, Andrei Svechnikov was the beneficiary of a Sebastian Aho setup to quickly quiet the home crowd.

Later in the period, that same pair would hook up in reverse order, as Svechnikov played distributor for Aho's 24th goal of the campaign.

With a physical edge on their side, too, including Seth Jarvis' first career fight, everything appeared to be going Carolina's way until the late stages of the middle stanza. As Andrei Vasilevskiy kept his team within two, the Bolts then capitalized on a pair of chances just 1:21 apart to quickly reset the score and nab hold of the momentum.

The score would remain 2-2 until, for the second time in as many Moms' Trips, Jordan Martinook emerged as the hero once again.  Reminiscent of the January 2024 victory in Boston in which he also scored the game-winner, the workhorse winger put a puck on net from an odd angle and found twine with 10:42 to go, clearing Carolina's path to victory.

Logan Stankoven then put the game on ice with an empty net goal inside the final two minutes.

Behind it all, Frederik Andersen picked up a third win in as many starts, turning away 18.

Stats & Standouts

• Andrei Svechnikov's game-opening goal was the fifth time this season the Canes have scored in the first minute of a game.  Only the Colorado Avalanche have done it more (7).
• Svechnikov now has 24 goals this season, tying the second-best total of his career with 17 regular-season games to go.  His current best is 30, which came during the 2021-22 season.
• Sebastian Aho (1-1—2) notched his 17th career multi-point first period and surpassed Pat Verbeek, Ray Ferraro and Kevin Dineen (all w/ 16) for third most in franchise history. Only Ron Francis (41) and Eric Staal (27) have more.
• Tonight was Rod Brind'Amour's 600th game as head coach of the Hurricanes. Now with a record of 367-178-55, he holds the NHL record for the most wins through a coach's first 600 games.
• In their 66th game, the Canes established their fourth-fastest pace to 90 points in a season in franchise history, following 2022-23 (61 GP), 2005-06 (61 GP), and 2021-22 (63 GP).

They Said It...

Rod Brind'Amour summarizing the victory...

"Obviously, it started out great, getting the goal to start the game. That gets you feeling good about things. We had a couple of mistakes that they ended up capitalizing on, but really, throughout the game, I thought we were solid. [Freddie] had a couple of big saves, [we] had a couple of special plays from a few guys. Overall, it was a great effort."

Jordan Martinook giving his thoughts on the win...

"They had their push there in the second [period], but we just stuck with our game the whole way through. I think we had a really good plan to go up against what they do really well. All four lines were going and doing their thing. When we're doing that, we're a hard team to beat. Everybody was chipping in tonight, and it was a great game."

Rod Brind'Amour on Seth Jarvis' first career fight...

"He's trying to stand up for his buddy. You always appreciate that. That's not really his game, we don't really want him doing that, but I love that he's willing to do it... Good on him."

Frederik Andersen sharing his thoughts on having all of the Moms on hand for the win...

"It's great. It's hard to get all the way over here, and it's really special to have all of our moms here. For me, personally, to have my mom be a part of it, it's awesome. We've enjoyed ourselves, and I'm sure they have to."

Jordan Martinook on scoring the game-winner in front of his special guest, his sister, Ashlee...

"I just like having my people around. I always get choked up. I just love having family around. She's obviously five years older than me and kind of like a second mom my whole life. She spent hours and hours in the rink with me and probably had some times along the way where she wanted to go do things, but she came and was riding shotgun to my dream. I just appreciate her, and I love her so much. It's a special bond."

What's Next?

• The Canes are scheduled to be off on Sunday.  They'll practice on Monday before flying to Columbus on Tuesday, where they'll begin a Metro Division back-to-back against the Blue Jackets.
• Next Game: Tuesday, March 17 at Columbus | 7:00 p.m. ET | FDSNSO
• Next Home Game: Wednesday, March 18 vs. Pittsburgh | 7:00 p.m. ET | FDSNSO | Tickets | Parking