Petr Mrazek of Ostrava, Czech Republic notched his 23rd National Hockey League career shutout on Thursday as the Carolina Hurricanes blanked the Tampa Bay Lightning 1-0 from PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC. It was an impressive overtime win for Carolina, as they beat the defending Stanley Cup champions to improve to a record of three wins and one loss for six points on the year.
Mrazek made 32 saves throughout the contest. He had seven saves in the first period, 14 saves in the second period, and 11 saves in the third period. Reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner and 2018 Norris Trophy winner Victor Hedman of Ornskoldsvik, Sweden led the Lightning with four shots on goal.
The Hurricanes got their lone goal from fellow Czech Republic Martin Necas of Nove Mesto na Morave. Necas posted the overtime winner at 1:12 of the extra frame from Jordan Staal of Thunder Bay, Ontario, and Dougie Hamilton of Toronto, Ontario. This was Necas’s first overtime winner in his career. Necas had three game-winning goals in 2019-20, but all three came in regulation.
This was Mrazek’s second career shutout against the Lightning. On March 28, 2015, while as a member of the Detroit Red Wings, Mrazek made 23 saves in a 4-0 Detroit win over the Lightning. He was traded from the Red Wings to the Philadelphia Flyers on February 19, 2018 for two conditional draft picks in 2018 and 2019, before signing with the Hurricanes as a free agent on July 1, 2019.
The shutout on Thursday was also Mrazek’s second of the season. He previously blanked the Red Wings 3-0 on January 14. So far in 2020-21, Mrazek has a record of two wins, one loss, a goals against average of 1.01, and a save percentage of .955.
The Hurricanes have only played four games this season because of coronavirus. They had four games rescheduled (one against the Nashville Predators, one against the Lightning, and two games against the Florida Panthers) because six players were on the COVID-19 unavailability list.
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