The Carolina Hurricanes revived their power play to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in PNC Arena on Tuesday, March 22. Center Martin Nečas and defenseman Tony DeAngelo both netted goals during a man advantage to take down the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champs.
The Canes (42-15-6) came into the game with a struggling power play that was 0 for its last 16 opportunities, but that streak came to an end in the second period against Tampa Bay (39-17-6). Carolina scored on back-to-back power play chances to snap that streak and eventually break a four-game losing skid with the win.
“We’ve had a million of those chances in the last 15, 16 power plays, they just haven’t went in,” DeAngelo said. “When you’re playing a team like Tampa, those need to go in there. They did tonight, so it was good.”
The intense rivalry between the Lightning and the Hurricanes was on full display for the whole evening, with several hard hits and plenty of chirping peppered throughout the 60 minutes. With the high-caliber goalie showdown between goaltenders Frederik Andersen and Andrei Vasilevskiy and the playoff history between the Bolts and the Canes, there was no love lost between the two Eastern Conference foes.
The beginning and end of the game were both prime examples of this animosity. The opening 20 minutes saw plenty of tight defense with neither squad willing to give the other an inch to build an attack. In the waning minutes of the game, the Bolts made a point to rough up the Canes and try to claw back into the game.
The intensity reached its peak in the final two minutes. After Tampa Bay made it 3-2 with just under a minute to go, Aho got the puck in the offensive zone with a chance to ice the game with an empty net goal. Anthony Cirelli had other plans, however, as he took Aho off his skates before he could get a shot off, setting a series of chaotic events in motion in the absence of a tripping penalty.
Nikita Kucherov decided a little bit later to retaliate against Aho’s indignance for the non-call, laying up a blindside hit on Aho in the neutral zone. Kucherov sat in the box for the final 25.9 seconds for interference, but that wasn’t the end of the exchange. Aho and Kucherov exchanged words after the final buzzer, resulting in a large standoff between the two squads at center ice.
Although the Lightning eventually relented and left the ice, the intense affair put an exclamation point on the game’s end.
“I think Fishy got hit by Kucherov and then he didn’t like to call,” Nečas said. “Maybe he thought Fishy dove or something but when take a look at the replay he definitely didn’t. Maybe just a little frustrated that they lost.”
Aho made another big play earlier in the game when he scored a highlight reel goal on Vasilevskiy. Defenseman Jaccob Slavin set up the rebound opportunity with a shot from the blue line, but Aho finished off the chance by twisting around and squeezing the puck into an extremely tight gap between the goalpost and Vasilevskiy’s skate.
Carolina’s return to the win column came on the heels of the NHL trade deadline a day prior, essentially finalizing the roster for their playoff push. With the addition of center Max Domi from Columbus and this win to restore the Hurricanes’ momentum, the squad is confident in its ability to mesh well and play good team hockey.
“We love our group as is,” DeAngelo said. “Then we add a guy like Max, obviously a really good buddy of mine and a really good player in this league for a long time now. It just gives us a little more jolt. Every top contender seems like they added somebody and we did as well.”
The Canes will get their next chance to build on their momentum on Thursday, March 24 at home against the Dallas Stars. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
