Johansson makes 32 saves, Lightning shut out Hurricanes

TAMPA -- Jonas Johansson made 32 saves for his first shutout of the season, and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 at Amalie Arena on Tuesday.

It was Johansson’s second career shutout, and first since April 9, 2021, with the Colorado Avalanche in a 2-0 victory against the Anaheim Ducks.

"Sometimes you get lucky and you get a shutout," Johansson said "I think everyone had a really good game tonight. We played really hard, tough as a team against a good opponent. It was a great team effort to get two points."

Brayden Point scored his first goal of the season and had an assist for the Lightning (3-2-2), who are 2-0-1 on their current homestand. Alex Barré-Boulet scored in his second straight game.

"[Johansson] was calm in the net for us, I thought it was a pretty workmanlike game for the guys," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "We got the lead, extended it and held it. That's what you want to do in this league. We did it for 60 minutes."

Pyotr Kochetkov made 20 saves for the Hurricanes (3-4-0), who have lost three straight and finished 2-4-0 on their six-game road trip.

"We all know we're certainly not playing up to our ability,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We've got to find that team game that we've done so well over the years. It certainly hasn't been there this year."

Point gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 19:06 of the first period with a power-play goal, redirecting the puck past Kochetkov following Victor Hedman’s wrist shot from the point.

"Who doesn't like to score, right?" Point said. "It was nice to see that one go in. We showed we can close out a game and we can defend. Obviously, ‘JJ’ got a shutout, but I think we did a better job tonight of limiting chances than we have in the past games."

The Hurricanes entered the game 31st on the penalty kill on the road.

"We've got to win the special teams battle though, we've been struggling on the kill," Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin said. "The guys...we played hard, we've just got to be more consistent. We know our structure works. We just have to do it better."

Barre-Boulet extended it to 2-0 at 17:51 of the second period. He swept the puck from behind the net to Darren Raddysh outside the right circle, and Raddysh’s slap shot was tipped in by Barre-Boulet.

"He's got some gifted offensive talents," Cooper said of Barre-Boulet. "So, we just have to put him in a situation to succeed. He's making the best of his opportunity. I'm really happy for him."

Nicholas Paul made it 3-0 at 17:04 of the third period with a one-timer from the left circle that beat Kochetkov to the far post.

"Everyone battled out there, but at the same time, it doesn't matter what the effort is if we scored zero goals," said Carolina center Sebastian Aho, who returned after missing three games with an upper-body injury. "Every game we have enough chances to win a hockey game. It's a matter of putting the puck in the net."

NOTES: Aho was minus-1 with three shots on goal in 21:05 of ice time in his return. ... Lightning captain Steven Stamkos did not have a shot on goal for the second straight game (one shot attempt). ... Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns was minus-2 and played his 767th consecutive game, the ninth-longest streak in NHL history (Craig Ramsay is eighth with 776).