Hurricanes rally to force overtime, fall to Lightning
It wasn’t a playoff game, but the teams played like it was, with all the appropriate fury.
The Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning went at it with a purpose Monday at Amalie Arena, neither team backing down nor holding back as the Lightning emerged with a 3-2 overtime victory.
Yanni Gourde ended it, knocking in a rebound at 2:50 of the overtime period on a pass from Alex Killorn. Canes goalie Petr Mrazek stopped Gourde’s first shot from the slot but could not find the puck in the crease as Gourde knocked it in.
While Gourde beat Mrazek for the winner, Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said the goalie was responsible for squeezing a point out of the game and keeping Carolina (29-10-5) in first place in the Central Division with 63 points.
“It wasn’t good enough. We got lucky to get a point out of that,” Brind’Amour said. “Our goalie bailed us out all game, in my opinion.
“We had spurts where we were playing it right. But it wasn’t good enough. The fact that we got a point out of that was probably pretty good and we had a chance to win. We had some good chances in overtime. (Mrazek) put us in a good spot to potentially win that. So it was a good point for us.”
Tampa Bay (30-13-2), which leads the season series with the Canes 4-3, had a 1-0 lead after the first period, then 2-0 early in the second. Playing without an injured Steven Stamkos, the Lightning at times kept the puck for long periods in the Canes’ zone in the second — Canes defenseman Brett Pesce once was on the ice for 2:40 on one long shift.
Andrei Svechnikov’s power-play goal in the second period got the Canes on the board, his 13th of the season and third in the past three games. Defenseman Brady Skjei then tied the score 2-2 just 1:08 into the third after the Canes forced a turnover in the Tampa Bay zone with their forecheck.
“We had spurts where we played our style but it wasn’t our best,” Skjei said. “Petr played a heck of a game. He was on top of his game. The reason we got that point was definitely because of him.”
The hits came often, and often hard. During the third period, Tampa Bay’s Alex Killorn leveled winger Martin Necas with an open-ice hit. Killorn then dropped the gloves with defenseman Jake Gardiner, who was back in the lineup.
Killorn picked up a five-minute fighting major but was not penalized for the hit on Necas. For Gardiner, it was his first NHL fight since February 2014, when he was with Toronto.
“That got our bench going for sure,” Skjei said. “(Gardiner) is not a fighter but you protect your teammates when you have to.”
Necas left the ice and was taken to the locker room for evaluation, but later returned and played in the overtime.
Killorn scored his 12th of the season in the first period with a breakaway for Tampa Bay, and Brayden Point his 19th on a power play early in the second for the 2-0 lead.
Svechnikov finally got the puck past goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy in the second. After Jesper Fast forced Alex Barre-Boulet to lose the puck in the Tampa zone, Skjei grabbed the loose puck at the top of the left circle and scored his second of the season at 1:08 of the third for a 2-2 tie.
While there was a playoff-like intensity to the game, Brind’Amour didn’t think the Canes played with playoff-caliber emotion.
“They might have treated it like a playoff game but we didn’t play our game.” he said. “We need to up the ante a little bit if we want to get to a playoff-level type game.”
The Canes will get their chance Tuesday, playing the Lightning again in their eighth and final regular-season matchup.
Which goalie to play?
Brind’Amour said before the game Monday the intention was to use two goaltenders down the stretch of the regular season, and he said Mrazek would start Monday’s game.
And to complete the back-to-back Tuesday against Tampa Bay? Alex Nedeljkovic or James Reimer? Brind’Amour wouldn’t say.
“It’s tough on those guys because you’re not going to make everybody happy,” he said. “We just have to do what’s best for the group. We’re probably going to lean to two guys more just to keep them sharp.”
In one lineup change, defenseman Jake Gardiner will be paired with Jani Hakanpaa. Defenseman Jake Bean will be a healthy scratch.
Teravainen update
Forward Teuvo Teravainen is with the team on the six-game road trip that ends next week with two games against Dallas. It’s possible the forward, who has played one game since Feb. 19 as he recovers from a concussion, could rejoin the lineup during the trip, Brind’Amour said.
“We’re waiting on him to say ‘book me in’ and then he’ll go in,” Brind’Amour said. “Hopefully he’ll get the bug and feel good and he’ll get in there.”
This story was originally published April 19, 2021 at 6:41 PM with the headline "Hurricanes rally to force overtime, fall to Lightning."
