The Tampa Bay Lightning’s top line of Jake Guentzel, Brayden Point, and Nikita Kucherov have been frustrated for almost a week. As the Lightning have struggled through a four-game losing streak, the trio hasn’t scored at their normal pace and the frustration was showing. That frustration turned to euphoria as Brayden Point scored his 24th goal with just 52 seconds left in regulation to give the Lightning a much-needed 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul had the other two goals as the Bolts flung 34 shots at Pyotr Kochetkov, who was sensational in net for the Hurricanes. At the other end, Andrei Vasilevskiy snapped a personal two-game losing streak with 31 saves of his own. Andrei Svechnikov and Jordan Staal were the only two Canes to beat him on the night. Special teams were a factor as the power play went 1-for-3 while they killed off Carolina’s lone chance.
The first period looked like a contest between two teams that aren’t entirely confident in their scoring. There were some hesitations with the puck and more than a few errant passes on both sides, but to the Lightning’s credit, they stayed patient. They also minimized the Hurricane’s chances by limiting their time with the puck, especially in the dangerous areas. Natural Stat Trick credited Carolina with just two high-danger chances over the first twenty minutes.
As for the Bolts offense, there were chances, notably Brayden Point on an early breakaway, but Kochetkov was able to poke the puck away before Point could finish off the move. There was a power play just past the midway point where Point just missed a shot from the slot, and Kucherov clanged one off of the post.
Tampa Bay stayed with their offense and finally found the back of the net when Darren Raddysh flung a back hand at the net that hit a player in front before handcuffing Kochetkov. Hagel’s first attempt was stopped, but he was able to put the rebound into the back of the net to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead.
Vasilevskiy wasn’t as busy as he normally is against the Canes, but he made a solid stop shortly after the Lightning goal as he flashed out the pad to deny a shot from a scrum. It’s a good thing that he had a light first period as Carolina was back to their Corsi Kings of the NHL ways in the second period. After generating just 15 shot attempts in the first period, they were up to a total of 43 after two (but just four high-danger chances).
Carolina is a living, breathing testament to the credo that there is no such thing as a bad shot, so of course, that’s how they tied the game. After a face-off win in the Lightning zone, Andrei Svechnikov backhanded a shot towards the net that hit a stick and danced liked a butterfly off of the tip of Vasilevskiy’s glove and into the net.
Despite seeing their lead vaporized, the Bolts kept skating, and making life difficult for Carolina on their breakouts. The Luke Glendening line had a really strong shift where they worked the puck along the boards and had the Canes defense wearing themselves out trying to get a clean clear. They weren’t able to, and Ty Smith eventually went to the penalty box for holding.
For much of the power play, the Lightning struggled to enter the puck with the zone, but towards the end, the second unit had it set up and Darren Raddysh sent a shot into traffic. With Anthony Cirelli tying up the defender in front of the net, Nick Paul was wide open at the side of the net and he was able to swat the puck in when it bounced over to him.
Carolina came back with some more pressure after the goal, but once again, a lot of it came from the perimeter and the Bolts limited second chances. Counter-rushes were available for the Lightning, and Mikey Eyssimont came close to cashing one in as he was able to turn the defenseman and drive the net, but Kochetkov covered the puck long enough to get a whistle. While the ice opened up a bit in the second period, the goaltenders weren’t letting the skaters take advantage.
Carolina’s first power play came at the end of the period, but they weren’t able to generate much before the whistle sounded to end the period.
The Lightning killed off the rest of the penalty, and settled in to defend their one-goal lead against the Canes. For the first part of the period they had a nice balance of smart play in their own zone along with a little pressure on Kochetkov. Their best chance came off of a feed from Emil Lilleberg to Brandon Hagel in the slot, but Hagel’s quest for his second goal of the night settled right into the stomach of the goaltender.
Carolina wasn’t going to go away and they started to spend a little more time in the Lightning zone. A good play by the home team ended badly as Mitchell Chaffee went out to block a Brent Burns shot. It hit him in the ankle and took him out of the play, which allowed Burns a second opportunity to put the puck on net and this time Jordan Staal was able to redirect it past Vasilevskiy.
After the goal, the Lightning seemed more than happy to get to overtime as they were content to dump the puck into the zone and regroup defensively in the neutral zone. They weren’t driving play or forcing things. Of course, they are the Tampa Bay Lightning and they need just a sliver of space to create something, especially when the top line is on the ice.
With less than a minute to go, the Point line were able to get the puck deep and Jake Guentzel sent a pass over to Kucherov on the near side. He didn’t wait long to zip right back to the slot where Brayden Point took it on his forehand. As his finished a turn, and with momentum taking him away from the net, Point was able to get a shot off that slipped between Kochetkov’s arm and body and into the net. Just like that, the Lightning were ahead.
Carolina wasn’t able to put anything on net before the horn sounded, but that wasn’t the end of the action as Hagel and Sebastian Aho renewed a violent discussion they had from earlier in the game. Hagel bumped Aho and the Finn responded with a swipe of his stick that tipped off a scrum along the boards. Those two will meet at the 4 Nations Face-off next month, should be fun.
For now, the Lightning pick up a much needed two points and head into their game against Boston on Thursday with a little momentum.
The Goals
Brandon Hagel (Darren Raddysh) 1-0 Lightning
Andrei Svechnikov (Jordan Staal) 1-1
Nick Paul (Darren Raddysh, Conor Geekie) Power Play, 2-1 Lightning
Jordan Staal (Brent Burns) 2-2
Brayden Point (Nikita Kucherov, Jake Guentzel) 3-2 Lightning
