Lightning defeat Hurricanes to extend winning streak
Stephens, Stamkos and Point all score for Tampa Bay in the 3-1 victory over Carolina
by Jacob Lynn @TBLightning / TampaBayLightning.com
Odds were stacked against the Lightning heading into Sunday's game against the Hurricanes.
Tampa Bay was coming in at the end of a four-game road trip, played 22 hours earlier in Ottawa and were without defenseman Ryan McDonagh due to injury.
Despite those challenges, the Bolts emerged from PNC Arena with a 3-1 victory over Carolina that pushes their winning streak to seven games.
The Bolts scored twice in the opening five minutes to build the lead. Mitchel Stephens scored first, finishing a feed from Carter Verhaeghe at the left circle. Just over two minutes later, Steven Stamkos capitalized on a Carolina turnover to double the lead.
Brayden Point scored the lone goal of the second period to extend the Lightning's lead to three. Point made a nice move faking a shot on his forehand before roofing the puck on a backhand to put the Bolts up 3-0.
Video: TBL@CAR: Point goes top shelf on Mrazek
Things were a little tight down the stretch for the Lightning after Andrei Svechnikov got the Hurricanes on the board with less than nine minutes to play in regulation. Svechnikov scored just as a Carolina power play expired, beating Andrei Vasilevskiy with a shot to the stick side.
Tampa Bay then had to kill off a four-minute double minor penalty late in the game after Pat Maroon was guilty of holding and unsportsmanlike conduct. With Petr Mrazek pulled, Carolina had a six-on-four advantage but couldn't manage to get back in the game.
The Lightning played a responsible game in their defensive zone, limiting Carolina's dangerous chances. The Hurricanes were held to 29 shots on goal and Tampa Bay skaters blocked 16 shots.
The win secures an undefeated road trip and extends Tampa Bay's winning streak to seven games. It was also the Bolts' first victory of the season over the Hurricanes after dropping both of the previous two meetings between the clubs earlier in the year.
The Lightning now return home for a quick two-game homestand that begins on Tuesday night against Vancouver.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
TBL | 2:36 Mitchell Stephens (2) - Carter Verhaeghe, Nikita Kucherov
TBL | 4:44 Steven Stamkos (16) - Unassisted
2nd Period
TBL | 5:19 Brayden Point (17) - Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos
3rd Period
CAR | 11:48 Andrei Svechnikov (18) - Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce