The game started with a very, very slow first period, which featured just 14 shots total. The Hurricanes got some chances at the end of the frame but there really wasn’t a whole lot of action.
In the second period, it was another slow start for both teams but the Lightning did manage to get on the board about seven minutes into the period. Alex Killorn took a relatively unexpected but harmless-looking shot from the top of the zone, which beat Alex Nedeljkovic. While I know Nedeljkovic was screened, he has to try to fight through traffic on that and it’s just another goal that really can’t go in. The Hurricanes did have chances of their own and outshot Tampa Bay 13-5 in the period, but still went into the intermission down a goal.
After some good chances in the third period, Tampa Bay added to their lead with Anthony Cirelli taking the puck off Brady Skjei, then going in alone to beat Nedeljkovic with a backhander from in close. Carolina would completely shut down the Lightning’s offense after that and would start throwing pucks on Vasilevskiy to try to climb their way back. The Hurricanes did pull within a goal with just 1:30 remaining, when Andrei Svechnikov tapped in a pass from Jordan Staal. However, despite getting some good chances in the dying seconds, that’s as close as the Hurricanes would come.
Once again, the Hurricanes didn’t play a bad game. They outshot the Lightning by a huge margin and had a pretty consistent effort throughout the whole game. That said, there were defensive breakdowns and while they didn’t give up many shots, those they did allow were often coming off quality chances on the rush.
Vasilevskiy has also been a huge factor for the Lightning. He’s allowed just two goals on 70 shots this series, while Carolina has managed to limit Tampa Bay to just 45 shots in two games.
Another blow to the Hurricanes was Vincent Trocheck being injured in a collision and not returning. Rod Brind’Amour also didn’t seem too optimistic about the extent of the injury after the game.
The Hurricanes now find themselves down 2-0 in the series, heading back to Tampa Bay for Games 3 and 4.
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Do you feel hopeful that the Hurricanes can come back to win the series?