The Carolina Hurricanes extended their winning streak to five with a 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning Tuesday night at Lenovo Center. It’s the first time the Hurricanes have reached the mark since they won eight in a row back in late October through early November.
For the past few months, the Hurricanes (39-22-4) have desperately been searching for an identity in the way they play and a desire for consistency in the results. Carolina’s win against the Lightning (37-23-4), showed the team may be finding what it has been looking for.
“Everybody will say that this is the time of year you really want to find your game,” said Hurricanes defenseman Sean Walker. “We’re kind of getting to that point, so it’s definitely a good thing.”
With trade deadline shenanigans behind them, the Canes have been churning out positive results against some of the league’s best teams.
On and off the ice, there are few players like center Seth Jarvis who bring as much energy and points to the table. More often than not, when the team needs a big-time goal, the coaching staff looks his way.
At the 4:29 mark of the first period, Jarvis delivered with his sixth shorthanded goal of the year.
Racing down the ice, Jarvis received a pass from center Sebastian Aho, and from a shallow angle, quickly opened his stick face to beat Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy to the far post.
Four of Jarvis’ six shorthanded goals have come in the first period and all four have been the team’s opening goal of the game. While being down a man, Jarvis has repeatedly shown an ability to flip the script and swing the momentum in Carolina’s favor.
Left wing Jordan Martinook doubled the Hurricanes’ lead in the second period. Skating down the right wing, Martinook threw a shot on net and with Vasilevskiy failing to seal the short-side post, it squeaked in.
Center Jack Roslovic made it 3-0 with 45 seconds left in the period on a saucer pass from left wing Taylor Hall.
Receiving the pass, Roslovic rocketed the puck over the glove of Vasilevskiy for his 20th of the year. That goal also marked Roslovic’s 100th NHL career goal.
The Lightning’s lone goal came 4:38 into the third on a snapshot from center Gage Goncalves. Taking a stretch pass on his tape, Goncalves waited long enough for center Anthony Cirelli to get to the net front and screen Canes netminder Pyotr Kochetkov.
With no sight lines on the puck, Goncalves shot beat Kochetkov to his glove side. Goncalves’ goal was Kochetkov’s only goal allowed on 24 shots, in his 24th win of the season.
Kochetkov’s 24th win of the season marks a career-high with plenty of games left to go for the Russian. As the season progresses, he has continued to put together quality performances and showed it on Tuesday, outdueling one of the league’s best.
“Our goalie played really well,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “He was dynamite early, but we didn’t give up a heck of a lot. When we did, he was there. So that was the difference in the game.”
Walker netted the team’s fourth goal less than two minutes after the Lightning got on the scoreboard. A beneficiary of another screen, Walker took possession of the puck off the faceoff won by center Jordan Staal and deked out defenders until a net-front presence was established by Martinook.
Despite an almost non-existent power play — one that went 0/5 on Tuesday night — the Hurricanes are finding ways to stack wins. Carolina is hitting its stride at exactly the right time.
The Canes will look to win six in a row when they host the Detroit Red Wings on Friday at 7 p.m.
