Hurricanes fall to Lightning in overtime on a power-play goal by Steven Stamkos
The Carolina Hurricanes did not have another scoring barrage Tuesday. Shots were harder to come by against the Tampa Bay Lightning, never mind goals. So was open ice.
The Lightning pulled out a 4-3 overtime victory, winning on a power-play goal by Steven Stamkos at 52 seconds of the extra period at Amalie Arena.
The Stamkos winner, his 30th goal of the season, came after Canes captain Jordan Staal was whistled for a holding penalty 26 seconds into the overtime period -- a tough call the Canes protested. That set up Tampa Bay with a 4-on-3 power play and Stamkos took a pass in the slot and beat goalie Antti Raanta, who had played well much of the night and had some high-quality stops in his 28 saves.
Seth Jarvis had a goal and assist, Sebastian Aho scored his 30th goal of the season and Nino Niederreiter his 21st for the Canes (44-15-8), the Metro Division leaders. Carolina, playing its third road game in four days, came away with five of six possible points but had to gut it out Tuesday.
“I could tell from the first shift we were gassed,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Guys tried their hardest but we were so slow on everything. You could clearly see it.
“To have a chance to win the game, give credit to (Raanta), who kind of held us in there. ... We still got a point out of it and we had a chance and somehow we were still hanging around.”
The Lightning (42-18-6) also scored two power-play goals in regulation against the best penalty-killing team in the league as Alex Killorn and Brayden Point picked up goals. Defenseman Victor Hedman had a four-on-four score in the second period.
Brind’Amour believed the toll of the trip and fatigue affected the Canes’ special teams -- Carolina was 0-2 on the power play with two shots in addition to its penalty-killing problems.
“We were a step slow on everything, not only physically but mentally,” Brind’Amour said. “The power play was atrocious. They were on us tonight, so give them credit. We were losing all the puck battles. More mental than anything.”
The Lightning, like the Canes, were playing their third game in four days and looking to beat Carolina for the first time this season after two losses. Their recent four-game road trip began with a 3-2 loss at PNC Arena and they had dropped an overtime game to the Canes early in the season.
The Canes were still coming to grips with how center Jesperi Kotkaniemi was lost to a senseless injury late in Monday’s 6-1 win at Washington. Kotkaniemi, hurt by a hit from the Caps’ Lars Eller in the final seconds, is expected to miss a few games.
It was a punch/counterpunch kind of game Tuesday, with the Canes taking the lead three times and the Lightning tying it.
There was plenty of physicality, hard checks and some pushes and shoves but no cheap shots. The Canes had gone three consecutive games with fighting majors — from Brett Pesce, Kotkaniemi and Brendan Smith — but that ended Tuesday.
The Canes, who blasted St. Louis 7-2 on Saturday, scored on their first shot Tuesday. The kicker: Niederreiter’s goal came on almost eight minutes into the first period, as Carolina had four shots in the period.
Brind’Amour noted the Canes have had first periods where they had an abundance of shots but no goals.
“We’ve had some great starts with nothing to show for it,” Brind’Amour said. “That’s happened so much this year and that was the reversal.”
Jarvis gave the Canes a 2-1 lead with a tip on a Teuvo Teravainen pass in transition, and Aho made it 3-2 when Tony DeAngelo’s backhand shot from the left circle glanced off Aho’s stick in front.
Aho’s goal was a milestone of sorts -- he passed Brind’Amour with 175 career goals with Carolina, moving into fourth place in Canes franchise history since the 1997 relocation.
“He’s certainly grown as a player ... and he’s trying to push us to be the best team in the world,” Brind’Amour said. “He has that in mind and that’s what he’s all about.”
This story was originally published March 29, 2022 at 9:51 PM with the headline "Hurricanes fall to Lightning in overtime on a power-play goal by Steven Stamkos."
