Necas scores four points for Hurricanes in win against Lightning

Martin Necas had two goals and two assists for the Carolina Hurricanes in a 4-3 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Saturday.

Necas gave Carolina a 4-3 lead when he scored a power-play goal at 16:07 of the third period.
"We've got so many good players, and we're missing two of them (forwards Vincent Trocheck and Teuvo Teravainen)," Necas said. "I'm just trying to step in for them. I felt good. My teammates played great, so I was just trying to keep up with them."
Dougie Hamilton had an assist on the winning goal to extend his point streak to an NHL season-high 14 games for the Hurricanes (23-7-3), who have won three games in a row. James Reimer made 19 saves.
Carolina trailed 2-0 after the first period.
"We shook it up a little bit right away (after the first)," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "There were a lot of little things going on, but at the end of the day, the guys kept playing. I was proud of the effort. Whether we got the two points or not, it was just a solid game all around."
Blake Coleman, Pat Maroon and Mathieu Joseph scored for the Lightning (24-8-2), who were coming off a 4-3 loss at the Dallas Stars on Thursday and have lost consecutive games in regulation for the first time this season. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves.
"We didn't win tonight because we got outworked," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "Penalties didn't have anything to do with it other than the fact that our power play failed us and theirs came through for them. That's the crux of it."

The Hurricanes were 2-for-6 on the power play, and the Lightning were 0-for-4.
Coleman gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead with a tip-in off a shot from Jan Rutta at 3:12 of the first period.
Maroon made it 2-0 at 5:41 when he scored off a pass from Ross Colton in front of the net.
"[Penalties] killed us tonight," Maroon said. "But there's a reason why we took penalties. They were better than us. They were down 2-0, but they stuck with it … we're the ones that got frustrated.
"We've just got to get back to our game. It's been an up-and-down roller coaster these last few games. We're in a good situation right now. We've been winning some hockey games as of late, so we've just got to stick with the structure and we'll be fine."
Cedric Paquette scored for Carolina to make it 2-1 at 2:24 of the second period, beating Vasilevskiy 1-on-1 off a pass from Necas.
"I don't play [Paquette] that much, probably could play him more," Brind'Amour said. "But every shift he goes out there, he gives everything he has. Great teammate. The guys really appreciate how he plays."
Sebastian Aho tied it 2-2 when he finished off a 3-on-1 rush in front of the net at 3:26.
Necas put the Hurricanes ahead 3-2 with a power-play goal at 15:44 when he scored off a loose puck that bounced off Aho's skate.
"Both teams played hard, and the games are intense," Aho said. "Obviously, the farther the season goes, every game is huge, and that's the defending champs. … It was quite a challenge for us. But I'm proud of how we responded when they were up 2-0. It was a great team effort."

Joseph tied it 3-3 22 seconds into the third period when he scored top shelf.
The Lightning's fourth line of Joseph, Maroon and Colton combined for four points (two goals, two assists).
"It's frustrating. We get that first goal on the first shift, we had good momentum," Colton said. "Everyone was back and buzzing on the bench. Then some questionable calls, in my opinion, you get out of the flow of the game, and then they get one late on the power play."
Hamilton has two goals and 14 assists during his 14-game point streak, which is one game longer than Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews' from Jan. 24-Feb. 20 (24 points; 16 goals, eight assists).
Hamilton's streak matches the longest for the Hurricanes since relocating from the Hartford Whalers for the 1997-98 season (Aho, Jan. 21-Feb. 28, 2020). It is the sixth-longest by an NHL defenseman in the past 40 years; Paul Coffey had a 28-game streak for the Edmonton Oilers in 1985-86, the longest in that span.
NOTES:The Lightning have allowed at least 40 shots on goal the past two games after not allowing more than 37 through their first 32 games. ... The Hurricanes are 16-0-2 when leading entering the third period.