Mishkin's Extra Shift: Lightning 4, Hurricanes 2

The Lightning played much better than in Saturday's 4-0 loss. They had a shooting mentality, competed with high urgency, didn't deviate from their structure even after falling behind in the first period, and, perhaps most importantly, were rewarded for their efforts with a regulation win.

The Lightning came into this game wanting to play at a high pace and shoot the puck more regularly than they had two nights earlier. They did that right from the start, thoroughly dominating the opening 13 minutes of the first period. They fired 11 of the game's initial 12 shots on goal, controlled nearly all of the puck possession, and forced Carolina goalie James Reimer to make a handful of tough saves.
But despite their strong play, they came up empty on the scoreboard. Then, moments after killing a penalty, the Lightning fell behind. On just Carolina's second shot of the game, the Hurricanes scored. Jesper Fast established position in front of Andrei Vasilevskiy and, after a shot from Martin Necas hit him in the skate, he collected the puck and swept a forehand into the net at 13:27. Buoyed by that goal, the Hurricanes recorded the next (and final) five shots in the period and took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
It had been a frustrating period for the Lightning. They had decisively outplayed the Hurricanes in the opening frame, but not only had they not gotten rewarded, they were trailing. Unlike Saturday, however, the Lightning didn't the deficit affect their approach. And they would tie things up early int he second. Victor Hedman drew a penalty on Sebastian Aho in the opening minute and on the ensuing power play, the Lightning finally broke through. Hedman set up Steven Stamkos at the left circle for a one-timer that hit off Reimer and went into the net. It was the Lightning's first goal of the season against the Hurricanes.
For the remainder of the second period, momentum swung back and forth between the teams. The Hurricanes pushed back after the Stamkos goal and applied more sustained pressure than they had for much of the first. But the Lightning would score the next one. Following an icing on the Hurricanes, Stamkos won the offensive zone face-off and Mikhail Sergachev passed the puck to Hedman, who skated to the left circle. He wristed a shot over Reimer's right shoulder to give the Lightning a 2-1 lead at 7:12.
After Hedman's goal, the Lightning carried play for the majority of the next 10 minutes (though not at decisively as they had in the first). But when Hedman was called for a penalty at 18:03, the 'Canes cashed in. Fast buried a rebound at the side of the net at 19:15.
The Lightning were effective in playing from the red line towards the Carolina net for most of this game. That included the third period. The Lightning strung together some strong offensive zone shifts - one of those led to Ondrej Palat's eventual game-winner at 8:04. At the same time, however, the third was, by far, Carolina's most dangerous period. The Hurricanes were equally effective at applying pressure in the offensive zone and their relentless forecheck led to long, sustained o-zone shifts. They also created a high volume of Grade-A scoring chances. But none of those went in the net. Vasilevskiy was, in a word, dazzling. He stopped 17 third period shots, including chances in the slot from Jake Bean, Vincent Trocheck, and Andrei Svechnikov. Those were three of his best, but he also dealt with multiple screened point shots that found their way to the net.
Alex Killorn's empty-netter at 19:20 sealed the win. When the teams meet for the third of their four straight games on Wednesday, when the series shifts to Amalie Arena.
A quick mention about two individual performances. Blake Coleman, who addressed the media on Sunday and spoke of how he regretted passing up a shot attempt in the game on Saturday, didn't pass up any shooting opportunities on Monday. He led the club with six shots on net. Playing on a line with Palat and Brayden Point, he was tenacious in winning puck battles all night. One of those came against Aho in the Carolina end moments before Palat's game-winner. Alex Barré-Boulet made his NHL debut and it was an impactful one. He was effective all over the ice, with and without the puck. Just seconds into his first NHL shift, he almost scored on a rebound of Killorn's in-alone chance. He received power play time, made several good passes to set up teammates in the offensive zone, and was responsible defensively.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Bobby "The Chief" Taylor):
1. Andrei Vasilevskiy - Lightning. 34 saves.
2. Ondrej Palat - Lightning. GWG and assist.
3. Jesper Fast - Hurricanes. Two goals.