@jayRecher
Nino Neiderreiter, Jordan Staal and Steven Lorentz each scored in the middle frame and Alex Nedeljkovic made 26 saves as the visiting Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 on Tuesday night at Amalie Arena.
After a scoreless 1st period, Carolina came out for the 2nd with a vengeance and were able to jump out in front when Neiderreiter snapped a shot past Vasilevskiy at the 7:48 mark to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead.
On the ensuing faceoff, Carolina's Jordan Martinook & Tampa Bay's Barclay Goodrow dropped the gloves, with Goodrow getting the better of Martinook. The Lightning may have won the fight, but they fell further behind on the scoreboard when Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal scored just 24 seconds after the scrap to make it 2-0 Carolina.
After a pushback from the Bolts, the Canes made it 3-0 when Steven Lorentz beat Vasilevskiy to the far side at the 16:45 mark, but to Tampa Bay's credit, they didn't fold & got on the board themselves when Brayden Point deflected an Ondrej Palat feed past Nedeljkovic just 18 seconds later to cut the Carolina lead to 3-1.
The Lightning pushed hard to close the gap, but weren't able to put anything else past Nedeljkovic.
Martinook added an empty-netter from beyond the red line to seal the deal with 2.2 seconds left on the clock.
Vasilevskiy, playing for the second straight night, stopped 32 of the 35 shots he saw on the evening.
A Special Night : It was the Lightning's annual Hockey Fights Cancer Night at Amalie Arena with Tuesday's game dedicated to honoring patients, survivors, caretakers and others involved in the fight against cancer. Players will once again wore Hockey Fights Cancer jerseys and used lavender-taped sticks during warmups, all of which are up for auction on www.boltshfc.givesmart.com until April 30.
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SCORING SUMMARY
1st Period
NONE
2nd Period
- Carolina - Neiderreiter - (Trocheck, Necas) - 7:48
- Carolina - Staal - (Hamilton, Neiderreiter) - 8:13
- Carolina - Lorentz - (Geekie) - 16:45
- Tampa Bay - Point - (Palat, McDonagh) - 17:03
3rd Period
- Carolina - ENG - Martinook - (Aho, Fast) - 19:57
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PENALTY SUMMARY
1st Period
- Tampa Bay - Palat - (High Sticking) - 14:06
- Carolina - Svechnikov - (Slashing) - 15:00
- Tampa Bay - Sergachev - (Slashing) - 20:00
2nd Period
- Carolina - MAJOR - Martinook - (Fighting) - 7:49
- Tampa Bay - MAJOR - Goodrow - (Fighting) - 7:49
3rd Period
- Tampa Bay - Killorn - (Slashing) - 11:11
- Carolina - Svechnikov - (Slashing) - 14:32
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What's Next For The Bolts : The Lightning are back in action on Thursday night as they welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets to Amalie Arena. Puck drop is slated for 7:00pm with the pregame show starting at 6:00pm on NewsRadio WFLA.
PHOTO : Getty Images