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Carolina Hurricanes: Keys to Bounce Back in Tampa Bay

By Holland Bostrom

Feb 22, 2021; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Hurricanes right wing Sebastian Aho (20) and Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) watch the shot during the third period at PNC Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 22, 2021; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Hurricanes right wing Sebastian Aho (20) and Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) watch the shot during the third period at PNC Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 22, 2021; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Hurricanes center Martin Necas (88) is checked by Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman (77)and defenseman Jan Rutta (44) during the second period at PNC Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 22, 2021; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Hurricanes center Martin Necas (88) is checked by Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman (77)and defenseman Jan Rutta (44) during the second period at PNC Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports /

Grab the Game Early

The Lightning caught the Carolina Hurricanes on their heels right from the puck drop on Monday.

Tampa Bay possessed the puck incredibly well, they were playing with speed, they shut down the Hurricanes’ transition game, and were peppering James Reimer with quality chances. Kudos to Reimer throughout that game, by the way; he stood on his head.

However, I don’t care if you have Dominik Hasek in net for you, if you let this Tampa Bay team control the first period like Carolina did on Monday, it’s not going to end well.

The shots through 18 minutes were 11-2 in favor of the Lightning, but the score was 1-0 Canes, thanks to Jesper Fast‘s first goal as a Hurricane.

Thankfully, a power play bailed the Canes out and allowed them to gain some momentum back heading into the first intermission. If it wasn’t for James Reimer’s stellar performance, the Canes could have easily been down by multiple goals after the first.

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