RALEIGH, N.C. - The Carolina Hurricanes opened the scoring in front of a sold-out Lenovo Center, but a pair of power-play tallies and two empty-net goals propelled the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning to a 4-1 victory in the Canes' season opener on Friday.
GAME SUMMARY | BOX SCORE | UPCOMING GAMES
After the teams traded power play opportunities in the early going, Canes captain Jordan Staal broke the ice at 14:32 of the first as he tapped home a William Carrier wraparound feed in the crease.
Carolina carried a 1-0 lead into the middle stanza, but Tampa equalized through Brayden Point just 2:33 into the frame. With the game deadlocked at one apiece in the third, the Bolts struck again on the man advantage as Nikita Kucherov grabbed the eventual game-winner at 11:06. Tampa's #86 also tacked on a pair of empty-netters in the final moments of play to complete his hat-trick.
Frederik Andersen got the nod between the pipes for Carolina's first outing, finishing with 19 saves on 21 shots.