In a game that was postponed due to the effects of Hurricane Milton back in October, the Carolina Hurricanes couldn’t find a way against a struggling Tampa Bay Lightning team that had lost four in a row coming into the game.
Lightning center Brayden Point — and the rest of the top line — combined for a goal with 52 seconds left in the third period that twisted the knife in the Hurricanes’ back. Right wing Nikita Kucherov whipped a pass from along the boards and Point spun with the puck in the slot and fired a shot past Canes netminder Pyotr Kochetkov which became the game-winner in a 3-2 Tampa Bay win.
Point’s goal was one Kochetkov certainly would have liked to have back. From in tight, Kochetkov got himself into a good position but the puck snuck under his arm with little time to react to the Point-blank shot.
Kochetkov and fellow goaltender Dustin Tokarski have often been left out to dry, receiving little help on both ends of the ice. In the last 10 games, the Hurricanes have scored four goals in regulation just one time.
It’s been a molasses-slow offense in recent times with up-and-down performances. The varying performances have been puzzling even for head coach Rod Brind’Amour.
With Necas’ performance falling back to Earth and the top line continuing to falter, the offense has not come easily. The Canes put themselves in a hole when Tampa left wing Brandon Hagel scored 16:38 into the first.
Hagel tracked a shot from the point that rebounded off Kochetkov and fought in the crease to tuck the rebound. Not a single Canes skater boxed out Hagel from the initial shot to his multiple attempts to score.
Right wing Andrei Svechnikov finally got an even-strength goal, something that has eluded him since early in the season. Svechnikov has been moved up and down the lineup to try and find a spark and may have found that next to center Jordan Staal.
After Staal won a faceoff, Svechnikov took possession of the puck and fired a relatively weak shot from his backhand that Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy just flat-out missed with his glove. Although lucky, a goal’s a goal, and right now that seems to be what Svechnikov needs the most.
Less than three minutes later, the Lightning took back its one-goal lead when left wing Nick Paul scored on the power play. Paul who was playing to Kochetkov’s glove side, scored a rebound against the Canes who are first in penalty kill percentage.
Halfway through the third, the Hurricanes tied it off of another faceoff play. Winning the faceoff, Staal got back to the front of the net and tipped in a shot from the point from defenseman Brent Burns. Carolina dominated the face-off circle the whole game, winning just under 58%.
Point’s last-minute goal blocked the Canes from leaving the Sunshine State with at least one point. The Hurricanes continue their busy January with the first of back-to-back games against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
