Vasilevskiy, Lightning edge Hurricanes in Game 1

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Barclay Goodrow scored the tie-breaking goal in the third period for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 2-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Second Round at PNC Arena on Sunday.

Goodrow gave the Lightning a 2-1 lead at 12:39 on a sharp-angled wrist shot when goalie Alex Nedeljkovic could not get square to the left post.
"[Blake Coleman] made a good play on the boards to win that battle," Goodrow said. "The puck came to me, and I saw [Yanni Gourde] drive the net, so I was really looking to get the puck on net and create a rebound for him. It just found a way to get in."
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 37 saves for the Lightning, the No. 3 seed in the Discover Central Division.
Jake Bean scored for the Hurricanes, the No. 1 seed. Nedeljkovic made 28 saves.
"We were fine. We just made some mental errors," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "Our execution can be better on some things. It was a pretty good game for us. It's a tough way to end it, but I thought we were OK."

Teams that win Game 1 are 495-224 (68.8 percent) winning a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoffs series, including 5-2 in the first round this season.
Game 2 is here Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVAS).
Goodrow, who scored 20 points (six goals,14 assists) in 55 regular-season games, made his 2021 playoff debut Wednesday when the Lightning eliminated the Florida Panthers with a 4-0 win in Game 6 of the first round. He missed the first five games of the series because of an upper-body injury.
"He usually doesn't get his accolades from getting game-winning goals," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "He's usually the guy stopping game-tying goals from happening. So you're really happy for guys that are team-first players and have an opportunity to bask a little bit in the limelight."
Brayden Point gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 8:15 of the second period when he slipped through two Hurricanes in the low slot on a power play to redirect Victor Hedman's pass through the five-hole.
Bean tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 1:41 of the third period. His one-timer off a pass from Andrei Svechnikov hit Anthony Cirelli in the slot before going in under the crossbar. It was Bean's first NHL playoff point in his seventh game.
"It's nice to see that go in," Bean said. "I think we have another level, and I think all the guys in the room agree with that. We knew this wasn't going to come off without any adversity."
Carolina had seven shots on goal against Vasilevskiy on five power-play opportunities.
"He's the best in the League, the best in the world," Brind'Amour said. "We knew that coming in. We've just got to figure out ways to make it harder on him. It's pretty much exactly what we thought as far as his performance. Now we've got to just keep trying."

The Lightning were 1-for-3 on the power play, but Point's goal was their only shot with the man-advantage.
"We know they are a little bit more aggressive, but we have to go out there and execute," Hedman said. "It feels like when we execute, we're going to get some good looks."
NOTES: Tampa Bay defenseman Erik Cernak left the game with 1:45 remaining in the second period after a check by Svechnikov. Cooper said Cernak "should be OK." … Lightning defenseman David Savard missed Game 1 with an upper-body injury. He is day to day, Cooper said. Savard was replaced by Luke Schenn, who had one shot and four hits in 8:17 of ice time. … Three of Goodrow's four NHL playoff goals have been game-winners. He scored winners in Games 5 and 7 of the 2019 Western Conference First Round for the San Jose Sharks against the Vegas Golden Knights. ... Hedman had eight blocked shots in a game-high 27:36. … Hurricanes forward Nino Niederreiter is "very, very doubtful" to return this series after he sustained an upper-body injury in practice Saturday, Brind'Amour said. Niederreiter was replaced by Cedric Paquette, who made his 2021 playoff debut. Paquette had three hits and one blocked shot in 7:05 of ice time. He had three assists in 25 games in the 2020 postseason to help the Lightning win the Stanley Cup. Paquette was traded to the Ottawa Senators by the Lightning on Dec. 27, then was traded to the Hurricanes by the Senators on Feb. 13. … This is the first time Tampa Bay and Carolina have met in the playoffs.