Johnson scores hat trick, Lightning keep Hurricanes from their best start

TAMPA-- Tyler Johnson scored a hat trick, and the Tampa Bay Lightning prevented the Carolina Hurricanes from matching their best start ever with a 4-2 win at Amalie Arena on Tuesday.

Yanni Gourde scored, and Louie Domingue made 38 saves for the Lightning (3-1-0) in his first start of the season.
WATCH: [All Hurricanes vs. Lightning highlights]
It was Johnson's fourth regular-season hat trick, second against Carolina. His most recent was Jan. 9, 2018 in a 5-4 win against the Hurricanes here.
"I don't think too much about hat tricks," Johnson said. "I'm more excited we won."
Micheal Ferland and Martin Necas scored for the Hurricanes (4-2-1), who were trying to equal their best start, established as the Hartford Whalers in 1991-92 (11 points; 5-1-1 (tie)).
"It's a tough loss because we were close to getting some points on the road," said Petr Mrazek, who made 23 saves. "Obviously we're not happy about that. But on both ends we worked hard, we battled, and I think we deserved better."
Ferland gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 10:25 of the first period with a backhand goal. Sebastian Aho had an assist to extend his point streak to seven games.
Johnson tied it 1-1 at 12:42 with a shorthanded goal. Mathieu Joseph skated down the left side, drawing two defenders to open up Johnson for the pass and a tip-in. It was Joseph's first NHL point in his fourth game.

"It was a great follow up by [Johnson] as he's playing well and had another great game," Joseph said. "It was fun to get the first one out of the way and contribute offensively as well."
Johnson scored his second of the season at 6:07 of the second period, beating Mrazek high on the glove side to make it 2-1.
Necas tied it 2-2 with his first NHL goal, a one-timer off a pass from Warren Foegele at 12:48.
"It was a little bit in front of me so I was in kind of a weird position," said Necas, who played his eighth NHL game. "But I hit the puck good and it ended up in the net."
Gourde gave the Lightning a 3-2 lead at 7:02 of the third period with a power-play goal. Ondrej Palat recovered a loose puck down low and passed to Gourde at the hash marks, where he beat Mrazek on the stick side.
"[Palat] made a very good pass to me and I tried to get it off as quick as I could but it hopped over my stick," Gourde said. "When I finally got the puck back, I shot it right away. I think it squeezed through his arm."
Johnson completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal at 18:04 to make it 4-2.

"When [Johnson's] really skating, it's game-changing for him, and he was definitely skating tonight," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "Bursting through holes and creating chances for himself. I know he had three. He probably could have had more with all the chances he created."

They said it

"We know that we can play with [Tampa Bay]. The difference is we have little, little margin. So when you self-destruct on certain things, you can't come back. That's going to come back and bite you against these great teams. That's what the lesson is." -- Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour
"Louie was amazing tonight. The way he plays the puck helps our defensemen make plays. He made huge saves on the penalty kill. We knew they were going to take a lot of shots tonight but Louie was there standing up." -- Lightning forward Yanni Gourde on goalie Louie Domingue

Need to know

Domingue suffered a minor neck strain playing basketball before the game. "We have a great staff here that fixed it right up," he said. ... Ferland has four goals and three assists in the past six games. ... Aho's season-opening point streak ties Keith Primeau (1998-99), Risto Siltanen (1984-85) and Mike Rogers (1980-81) for the third longest in Hurricanes/Whalers history. Ron Francis had a point in 11 straight games to start the 1984-85 season. ... The Lightning are 18-for-18 on penalty kills this season.

What's next

Hurricanes: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; FS-SE, ALT, NHL.TV)
Lightning: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; SUN, FS-D, NHL.TV)