What an impressive opening night win for the Lightning. They went into a tough building and beat one of the best teams in the NHL.
Certainly, the Lightning’s stars shined. Nikita Kucherov tallied a natural hat trick and finished with four points. Brayden Point posted a key goal. Victor Hedman had three assists. The Lightning’s power play went 2-6, providing the offense they needed to rally from a 1-0 deficit.
Just as significantly, the Lightning delivered a very strong defensive performance. They’ve emphasized the necessity of limiting opposition chances this year (particularly during five-on-five play), and they did so against the Hurricanes. Carolina wants to apply relentless pressure and tends to put a lot of pucks on net. But the Hurricanes only managed 21 shots on goal during this game, including just four SOG in the decisive third period.
One of the keys to neutralizing Carolina’s attack is clearing pucks from the defensive zone before the forechecking ‘Canes can take away time and space. The Lightning did just that for the first 14 minutes of the first period. But when Brandon Hagel attempted to hold onto the puck in the defensive zone rather than clear it, he was pressured and lost possession. Will Carrier set up Jordan Staal for a tap-in goal at 14:32.
The Hurricanes might have extended the lead before the period ended. The Lightning’s play became sloppy, and they yielded a handful of rush chances. Fortunately for them, Carolina was unable to finish any of those looks.
The Lightning had one unsuccessful power play in the first period. That opportunity began with an offensive-zone faceoff loss. Staal won the draw from Point, the Hurricanes cleared the zone, and the Lightning struggled to get set up for the rest of the man advantage. When the Lightning received their second power play at 2:21 of the second period, they made an adjustment. Nick Paul took the faceoff instead of Point. Paul won the faceoff and twelve seconds later, Kucherov set up Point in the slot for the tying goal.
After tying the game, the Lightning ceded possession for much of the second period. The ‘Canes outshot the Lightning, 11-4, and owned a 25-9 advantage in shot attempts. But Andrei Vasilevskiy was very sharp, and despite the territorial disadvantage, the Lightning did well to limit high-danger chances.
Regrouping during the second intermission, the Lightning pushed back in the third. As they did at the start of the game, they cleared pucks effectively from the d-zone and reduced the amount of time they spent in their own end. At the 11:00 mark, Anthony Cirelli was slashed on a breakaway, resulting in another power play. Similar to what happened on Point’s second-period goal, Paul won a faceoff to begin the man advantage. Hedman passed to Kucherov, who fired in a right-circle one-timer at 11:06.
Leading for the first time in the game, the Lightning effectively locked things down. They won puck battles all over the ice, cleared pucks from the defensive zone, and worked pucks deep into the Carolina end. With just over two minutes remaining, the ‘Canes pulled Fredrek Andersen for an extra attacker. Point won a d-zone faceoff from Staal, and moments later, Kucherov scored the first of two empty-net goals. He added his hat-trick tally in the final few seconds.
Now the Lightning return home to help with the cleanup efforts following Hurricane Milton. The team will also get ready for its next game, scheduled for Tuesday against Vancouver.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game:
- Nikita Kucherov — Lightning. Natural hat trick and assist.
- Andrei Vasilevskiy — Lightning. 20 saves.
- Nick Paul — Assist. Faceoff wins leading to first two goals.
