Carolina Hurricanes Struck Down by Tampa Bay Lightning

The Carolina Hurricanes were good in both ends and controlled the play for most of the game, but couldn’t overcome a couple defensive breakdowns and the goaltending of Ben Bishop.

There were a lot positive things to take away from the Hurricanes and Lightning game last night. First, the Canes were great at puck control in both zones. Their cycling down low in the offensive zone had the Bolts on their heels at many times, and the forwards and defenseman were great at using the points and pinching at the right times to keep the pressure on.

The Hurricanes showed great passing and puck possession in their transition game from their zone, through the neutral, and into the Bolts end. They showed they can carry the puck into the offensive end as well as dumping, chasing and fighting for control in the corners to set up the cycle.

And the defensive corps, once again, played a very tight-checking game and kept the lightning forwards on the perimeter for most of the play in our zone. When there were coverage breakdowns, the forwards were there to cover or Cam made a save…except for two instances.

Related Story: Carolina Hurricanes Playoff Battle - February 22nd

Scoring Summary

1st Period
CAR Goal (11:10) SHG – Joakim Nordstrom (7), assisted by Jordan Staal (23), Jaccob Slavin (12)

2nd Period
TBL Goal (4:41) – J.T. Brown (8), assisted by Cedric Paquette (3), Andrj Sustr (13)

TBL Goal (8:27) – Ryan Callahan (7), assisted by Steven Stamkos (21) Nikita Nesterov (4)

CAR Goal (12:59) – Michal Jordan (1), assisted by Jeff Skinner (14) Victor Rask (22)

3rd Period

TBL Goal (14:17) PPG – Steven Stamkos (25), assisted by Tyler Johnston (15), Jonathan Marchessault (8)

TBL Goal (19:50) EN – Ryan Callahan (8), assisted by Ondrej Palat (12) Cedric Paquette (4)

Three Stars

1st Star – Steven Stamkos, C (TBL) – 1 goal, 1 assist, 1 shot, 2 hits, 17:32 TOI

2nd Star – Joakim Nordstrom, LW (CAR) – 1 goal, 2 shots, +1, 17:22 TOI

3rd Star – Michal Jordan, D (CAR) – 1 goal, 3 shots, +1, 13:33 TOI

Recap:

• The Hurricanes definitely came out of the locker room for the first puck drop ready for what had all the feeling of a playoff game. They, once again, had their wheels on and controlled the Lightning and the puck for most of the first period. Coach Peters rotated all four lines and each one stepped up and delivered, while the defense, still missing Justin Faulk, blocked a lot of shots and didn’t let the Bolts get many good looks. The first goal was a beautiful short-handed tally, as Jordan Staal made a gorgeous saucer pass to Joakim Nordstrom on a 2-on-1, and Nordy buried it.
• It only took one bad bounce early in the second to tie it up. A shot from the point was deflected just in front of Cam Ward, bounced off the ice and onto the stick of J.T. Brown standing on the doorstep. Cam had great positioning on the original shot from the point, but couldn’t recover in a split second to cover the open net after the bounce, and Brown tapped it in.
• The next goal, though, is one Cam would definitely like back. You could say that the Hurricanes should’ve cleared the zone a couple times and didn’t, or someone missed their defensive-zone assignment and left someone open, or the slap shot was a serious bullet from 15 feet out. All are valid points. This goal, though, was on Ward when he didn’t hug the short-side post as well as he should have, and Ryan Callahan was able to bury it.

“We’ve been a hard-working team. Tonight was a great effort, but just little mistakes,” Jordan (Staal) said. “There’s good character in this room that’s going to find a way to keep pushing forward. We’ll move on to the next one and wake up tomorrow ready to work.” – courtesy Michael Smith, CarolinaHurricanes.com

• Michal Jordan (yes, that Michal Jordan) got on the board for the first time with a beautiful, NHL All Star-like, wrap-around goal to tie up the game in the second. As the Canes cycled in the Lightning zone, again, Jeff Skinner kept the puck in at the point, dished it off to a streaking Jordan. He carried it down the left side and around the net, drawing every Lightning player and Ben Bishop with him, and tucked it in the far-side as everyone tried to scramble back. Highlight reel stuff for his first goal of the season.
• The third is where the game was lost for the Hurricanes. They continued all of the good things that they showed in the first two periods, and had a multitude of chances. In fact you could say that Ben Bishop won this game for the Lightning, making a total of 29 saves, many of them coming in the last half of the game as the Hurricanes mounted some serious pressure. Ultimately the final score came down to one penalty, one play and one missed defensive assignment. Jordan Staal was called for high-sticking, a penalty he himself called stupid, and the Lightning gained the Canes’ zone. On a Tampa Bay line change someone missed a streaking Steven Stamkos, which is something you just can’t do. Tyler Johnson found him in the high slot, and Stamkos let rip a bullet for the winner.
• The Hurricanes pulled Ward for the final two minutes of the third and had a tremendous amount of chances. Unfortunately, Bishop and the Lightning defense smothered and blocked everything, and the game was sealed with an empty-netter with 10 seconds left.

The Hurricanes now have a day off, which Coach Peters says will be another day of skating and rest, before hosting the Flyers on Tuesday. There are six games involving eight of the Eastern Conference teams separated by only six points points in the playoff push. It’s a refrain that we will hear for months to come…this is a crucial game for the Hurricanes to gain two points, and for the other contenders to falter a bit.

Stay tuned and hang on! Go Canes!

*Statistics and player information provided by CarolinaHurricanes.com, Hockey-Reference.com and YahooSports. com