The Tampa Bay Lightning take a 2 game lead, beating the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1. The Hurricanes were without Nino Niederreiter and are likely to be without him for the remainder of the series. Both teams were quiet and this was not the night for the Canes to dip off the radar. 

The storm was brewing in the first period but nothing touched down. With just six shots on goal, neither team was able to score. According to Natural Stat Trick, Tampa Bay led with 4 high danger scoring chances compared to Carolina’s one. 

Canes successfully killed Sebastian Aho’s slashing penalty. Things were beginning to heat up as the Lightning were spending more time in the offensive zone. One major takeaway I have is the amount of incomplete passes. The team couldn’t get the puck tape to tape for a while. That would become a problem of the past. Lightning struck when Alex Killorn got Tampa on the board first 7 minutes and 9 seconds into the second period. The Canes could not tie it up in the second frame. Through 100 minutes, the Canes could not sneak a single goal by Vezina nominee Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Hurricanes found themselves on the penalty kill again and  Martin Necas whiffed one just wide of the net. I have to believe he will be seeing that every time he closes his eyes. Vincent Trocheck left the ice sixteen seconds into his shift. He was seen hopping off the ice and down the tunnel at the end of the second period. Sara Civian reported it was friendly fire that sent him down. We need to talk about Nikita Kucherov. No, this isn’t about cap space but his old habits dying hard. Kucherov stuck his leg out and kneed Brett Pesce. A referee was right there yet there was no call. Shots were 21-11 in favor of Carolina at the end of 40. Tip of the cap to the Canes for only allowing Tampa to add 5 shots. 

As I mentioned before, the Hurricanes couldn’t score a goal through 100 minutes. The Canes are a heavy scoring team and unfortunately those Hurricanes vanished off the radar.  Aho led the team in scoring with 24 goals and Niederreiter behind him with 20. Nothing. Are we seeing a similar situation to the one in Toronto where stars fall flat or was it just an off night?

Good News: Trocheck returned to the bench for the third period. Bad News: He would end up back in the room shortly there after. Pat Maroon high sticked Brady Skjei and Carolina looked to capitalize on that man advantage. Tampa’s penalty kill never waivered. Similar to the Hurricanes, the Lightning’s star players were rather quiet through most of the game. Victor Hedman of course changed that, scoring the second goal of the night with just under 12 minutes remaining. Limiting Tampa to 15 shots is something but the Bolts being able to score two goals off of that is quite impressive. Things began to heat up as the period progressed. Nothing ever escalated past a huddle and loads of yelling but tensions were rising. The Hurricanes would not go quietly. Andrei Svechnikov cut the lead in half with a minute and a half left. 

Unfortunately, the 32 shots on goal were not enough for the Canes to tie up the series.They’re without Nino and possibly Trocheck. Is there room for them to turn the series around?

The storm heads to Tampa for game three on Thursday.