It didn't take long for the rookie to get on the board, as Colton notched his first career goal less than seven minutes into his debut. Victor Hedman did all the work to set up the goal, drawing the attention of the Carolina defense while circling the net before feeding Colton who was stationed right in front of Alex Nedeljkovic.
The Bolts bookended the period with a power play goal with less than three minutes to play. On a rush, Blake Coleman went unmarked down the slot and he fired Yanni Gourde's feed over Nedeljkovic's blocker to double the lead.
With a two-goal advantage, Tampa Bay played a defensively responsible game over the final 40 minutes, keeping Carolina from generating much offensively. Barclay Goodrow rounded out the scoring with an empty netter in the final minutes.
Vasilevskiy didn't face a ton of pressure, finishing the night with 25 saves. His best stop came midway through the third when he stretched to his left to deny Warren Foegele who was wide open at the far post.
The win pulls Tampa Bay even with Carolina at 25 points in the Central Division standings.
The Lightning and Hurricanes are right back at Amalie Arena on Thursday to close out the four-game set in the second half of a back-to-back.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
TBL | 6:43 Ross Colton (1) - Victor Hedman, Alex Killorn
TBL | 17:27 Blake Coleman (4) - Yanni Gourde, Pat Maroon - PPG
2nd Period
No Scoring
3rd Period
TBL | 19:25 Barclay Goodrow (4) - Alex Killorn - EN
