RALIEGH, N.C. --Alex Nedeljkovic made 24 saves for his first NHL shutout, and the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-0 at PNC Arena on Saturday.

Nedeljkovic, who was making his eighth NHL start (10th game), made a save against Tyler Johnson with 16 seconds remaining before falling backwards to cover the loose puck to preserve the shutout.
"You're just happy for the kid," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "He's been part of the organization for a long time (selected with No. 37 pick in 2014 NHL Draft) and kind of paid his dues. He looked good tonight and he was ready to go. He needed to make some big saves for us tonight and he did."
Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov each had a goal and an assist for Carolina (12-3-1), which is 5-0-1 in its past six games. The Hurricanes defeated the Lightning 1-0 in overtime Jan. 28 in their first game against each other.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves for Tampa Bay, (10-4-1), which has lost three of its past four games.
"If any team in the League plays one way, they pretty much stick to the way they play," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "We weren't disciplined enough to keep playing the way we needed to."

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      TBL@CAR: Aho scores after Svechnikov's backhand pass

      The game, which was the first of four straight between the teams, was rescheduled from March 28 after the Lightning's originally scheduled game against the Dallas Stars was postponed because of the severe winter weather in Texas. The Hurricanes had been scheduled to complete their two-game set against the Chicago Blackhawks, but that game will be rescheduled to a date to be announced.
      Vincent Trocheck scored his ninth goal when he jammed in a loose puck at the left post to give Carolina a 1-0 lead at 2:19 of the second period. The goal was Trocheck's 300th point in the NHL.
      "The first period kind of went both ways, then they get that goal and we just kind of chased the game from there," Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. "That's a really good hockey team over there. They've had our number this year."
      Aho made it 2-0 at 15:30 when he drove the net from the right face-off circle and scored top shelf. Andrei Svechnikov held the puck in at the blue line and made a backhand pass to Aho to start the play.
      "I know [Svechnikov] was going to find me," Aho said. "I tried to beat [Tampa Bay defenseman Ryan McDonagh], I got a step on him and I got a good bounce too. It bounced over the goalie's stick upstairs, so a good goal."
      Cedric Paquette took a pass from Jake Bean and scored with a wrist shot in the slot to extend the lead to 3-0 at 3:12 of the third period. The goal was Paquette's first with the Hurricanes in his fourth game since being acquired in a trade from the Ottawa Senators on Feb. 13. Paquette was playing his first game against the Lightning after winning the Stanley Cup with them in 2020.
      "You couldn't write a better script than that," Paquette said. "Only my fourth game here and against my old teammates. It was nice to finally get one."
      Svechnikov scored into an empty net to make it 4-0 at 17:41.
      "I think we kind of forced things in the third," Tampa Bay forward Alex Killorn said. "We kind of got out of our system a little bit because we were trying to fight back and score that goal. We were getting some chances, it just kind of got away from us there."

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          Nedeljkovic earns Saturday's Pepsi Zero Sugar Shutout

          Nedeljkovic faced five shots in the third period, but he had to make a couple of big saves, including against Alexander Volkov at 10:09 and Victor Hedman with 3:28 left.
          "Just playing [Tampa Bay] is enough, but at this level it shouldn't take much to get you going," Nedeljkovic said. "You've got to be ready to play every night, ready to perform. From start to finish, we were playing our game."
          NOTES:Hurricanes forward Teuvo Teravainen missed the game with an upper-body injury he sustained in a 5-3 win against the Blackhawks on Friday. Brind'Amour said he expects Teravainen to miss at least a couple games. … Trocheck has nine points (four goals, five assists) during a seven-game point streak. ... The Lightning's 24 shots were their second fewest of the season (21 in a 5-2 loss to the Florida Panthers on Feb. 11).

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              Nedeljkovic gets first shutout in Hurricanes' 4-0 win