Canes Blanked By Lightning

RALEIGH, NC. - The Carolina Hurricanes were held scoreless for the first time this season on Tuesday, falling 3-0 to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Aho Returns, Andersen Backs Up

Before the puck could go down at Amalie Arena, the Canes got one-and-a-half doses of good news in the health department.

After missing the last three games due to an upper-body injury, Sebastian Aho returned to the team's lineup, skating to the left of Teuvo Teravainen and Martin Necas to start the night.

The team had recalled defenseman Dylan Coghlan from Springfield (AHL) earlier in the day as an insurance policy in case Aho couldn't go, but #20 was able to keep the team in a standard setup of 12 forwards and six defensemen.

Behind the skaters, Frederik Andersen, who has not played since leaving last Tuesday's game in San Jose, was healthy enough to back up Pyotr Kochetkov.

With a back-to-back set coming up on Thursday and Friday at PNC Arena, Andersen could be in line to make his return in one of those affairs.

Déjà Vu?

There were a handful of similarities between tonight's first period and the opening stanza from Saturday in Colorado.

The group got good goaltending out of the gate, with Kochetkov keeping Tampa Bay off the board early.  The penalty kill, which has struggled to start the year, killed off their first opportunity tonight.

It felt like there was some hope for the Canes to get their train back on the tracks this evening.

Then, just like Saturday, a late-period penalty proved costly.

With Martin Necas in the box, the Lightning used a redirection from Brayden Point to beat Kochetkov, claim the game's first lead, steal any possible momentum from Carolina, and send them back to the locker room trailing.

Offense Gone Missing

Entering Tuesday's play, the Canes had previously had no problem finding offense. With 27 goals in six games to start the season, only the Detroit Red Wings (30) produced more.

But there was no offense to be found tonight.

We hear the team talk so often about how the "flow" of their game is a key part of their process, however, it felt like that was a lacking element this evening. Whether it be the reshuffled forward lines with Aho back in the mix throwing the team off their game, perhaps it was simply an off night, or maybe they're still adjusting to their new pieces, it just didn't feel like the group was playing the way that they're designed to.

Rod Brind'Amour and staff made multiple changes to the team's forward group as the game progressed, but none produced the results they were hoping for.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

In addition to Carolina's offense being out of sync tonight, the Lightning also deserve praise for their attempt in making life difficult.

Before pucks could even get to netminder Jonas Johansson, the Bolts blocked 17 shots in comparison to just the six from Carolina.

Johansson, who had a 42-save shutout of Carolina during preseason play, was able to keep everything out once again, stopping all 32 this evening.

They Said It...

Rod Brind'Amour giving his assessment of what made it so difficult to score tonight...

"They were blocking a lot of shots.  They did a nice job of protecting the front of their net.  When they didn't, their goalie made a few nice saves to keep us chasing the game.  They made a couple of nice plays on their goals and then they hunkered down.  We played a fairly decent game.  It was consistent and hard, we just weren't able to get one."

Sebastian Aho sharing his thoughts...

"We've got to find a way to win these tight ones.  Everyone battled out there and the effort was there, but at the same time, it doesn't matter what the effort is if we score zero goals and don't win games.  We've got to get better in many ways.  Good thing we go home now and hopefully, we'll play well in front of our own fans."

Jaccob Slavin on what needs to change with the penalty kill, after allowing another power play goal tonight...

"Execution is the biggest thing.  We know our structure.  Our structure works.  We know that it can work, we just have to do it better.  That's what it comes down to."

What's Next?

The Canes will fly back to Raleigh immediately post-game. They are scheduled to practice Wednesday before returning to game action on home ice Thursday and Friday at PNC Arena against Seattle and San Jose.

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