After finishing a perfect homestand going into the All-Star break, the Tampa Bay Lightning entered the game with the last place Hurricanes looking to beat them for the tenth time in their last 11 meetings. The Bolts last road trip resulted in no points earned and beat downs at the hands of Philadelphia and Boston. Unfortunately the Lightning faced a hot goaltender, (Anton Khudobin) and an All-Star defenseman (Justin Faulk) who led the ‘Canes to a 4-2 win. Khudobin stopped 30 of 32 Lightning shots and Faulk had a goal and an assist.
The first period saw the Bolts come out slow ans uninspired as the Hurricanes scored as many goals (2) in the period than in their last two meetings vs. Tampa Bay.
The Hurricanes scored just 22 seconds into the game as Eric Staal scored his 16th and ninth in twelve games from brother Jordan Staal. Staal’s centering pass deflected off defenseman Anton Stralman‘s stick and past goalie Ben Bishop. The play started with Steven Stamkos turning the puck over inside the blue line and Staal blowing by Victor Hedman.
Carolina’s Nathan Gerbe made it 2-0 at 6:05 as a Brett Bellemore point shot took a favorable bounce off the end boards right to him.
After a Lightning timeout, the Lightning cut the lead in half on a power move to the net by Cedric Paquette who jammed his sixth goal past Anton Khudobin at 14:05 from Jonathan Drouin and Andrej Sustr. It was Paquette’s first goal since November 15.
The period ended 2-1 Carolina with shots in favor of Tampa Bay 13-7. After starting slow, the Lightning had the last ten shots of the period.
The Bolts came out better in the second period, but hurt themselves with a constant march to the penalty box. With Andrej Sustr in the box for hooking, Justin Faulk scored his ninth goal, unassisted at 8:26 as Ben Bishop was screened on the play. The Lightning forwards Paquette and Brian Boyle gave Faulk too much room to maneuver and shoot.
With Nikita Nesterov in the box for smothering the puck, Brian Boyle scored his second shorthanded goal of the season after a steal, as he went on a breakaway and backhanded it five hole past Khudobin. It was Boyle’s tenth of the season, unassisted at 14:06, giving the Bolts seven, ten goal scorers on the season. Boyle had eight total goals the last two seasons with the Rangers.
Carolina led 3-2 after the second period. The Bolts were outshooting the ‘Canes at this point 22-17.
The early part of the third period was dominated by the Lightning, but they couldn’t score. Jiri Tlusty finished off a two-on-one with Justin Faulk at 7:53 for his twelfth of the season to give Carolina its third two goal lead of the game. Defenseman Jason Garrison pinched and lost the puck to send the Hurricanes off on the two-on-one.
The Bolts could only muster eight shots on goal in the third period.
It was the Lightning’s third straight road loss as they fell out of first place in the Eastern Conference and the Atlantic Division.
Forward Brenden Morrow played just over seven minutes and was -2. It may be time for him to remain a healthy scratch.
The Lightning power play went 0-3 and has been terrible all season long. The Bolts had only two shots on goal during the three power plays. Unacceptable.
Goalie Ben Bishop stopped only 18 of 22 shots and despite a bad bounce and a deflected own goal needs to be better.
The grinders had a terrific game while the Bolts stars were silent.
The Lightning fell to 1-14-1 when trailing after two periods.
Luke Witkowski (healthy), J.T. Brown (healthy), Radko Gudas (knee surgery) and Matt Carle (abdominal surgery) were the scratches.
The Lightning host the Detroit Red Wings Thursday night.
(Feature Photograph/Getty Images)
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