Hurricanes shut out Lightning in return

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Martin Necas scored at 1:12 of overtime to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 1-0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at PNC Arena on Thursday.

"Five-on-five is hard, then when you get those specialty times, you need those special players," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "We've got a couple. [Necas is] starting to emerge. He definitely stepped up."
Carolina played its first game since Jan. 18 because of coronavirus issues.
The Hurricanes took advantage against a tired Lightning line, who were unable to get a change in overtime. Necas found Jordan Staal coming over the boards before the Hurricanes captain sent a saucer pass under the stick of Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman to Necas at the top of the crease.
"Give them credit, they did a good job possessing it," Lightning forward Brayden Point said. "They got some fresh guys out and took advantage of a tired group. Sometimes that happens."
Petr Mrazek made 32 saves for the Hurricanes (3-1-0), who were without forwards Teuvo Teravainen, Jesper Fast, Warren Foegele and Jordan Martinook, and defenseman Jaccob Slavin, each of whom remain in the NHL COVID-19 protocol.
Staal, who had five hits and two blocks in 19:09 of ice time, was playing in his first game since testing positive for COVID-19 following Carolina's season-opener Jan. 14.
"It felt like the start of the season all over again," Staal said. "It was a weird feeling going into the game. [Brind'Amour] a good job of making sure we were on the attack to get after them right away."
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 35 saves for the Lightning (3-1-1), who were playing their first game since Jan. 23. Tampa Bay was supposed to play Carolina on Tuesday, but that game was rescheduled for Feb. 22.

The Hurricanes came out sharp in their first game in 10 days and outshot the Lightning 15-7 in the first period.
"We didn't play with pace in the first period," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "We were just holding on to pucks too long. We made some little adjustments in the second period of things we had to do, and I thought it was a pretty even game after that."
Mrazek, who has two shutouts in three starts this season, made 25 saves in the second and third periods.
"We knew we needed all 20 guys to contribute in some form or fashion, and I thought that's what happened tonight," Brind'Amour said. "[Tampa Bay] made some great plays, and [Mrazek] came up big. I expected more rust, to be honest with you, so I'm pretty happy with everything."
NOTES: Carolina forwards Max McCormick, Morgan Geekie and Steven Lorentz, and defenseman Jake Bean played after being called up from the Hurricanes taxi squad. Lorentz had one shot and two hits in 14:41 of ice time in his NHL debut. … Hurricanes forward Sheldon Rempal, who was recalled from Chicago of the American Hockey League, had one shot in 6:58.