Vasilevskiy makes 31 saves, Lightning shut out Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. --Andrei Vasilevskiy made 31 saves, and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-0 at PNC Arena on Tuesday.

Brayden Point had two goals and an assist, and Steven Stamkos had a goal and two assists for the Lightning (43-26-6), who ended a four-game losing streak. Nikita Kucherov had two assists.
Tampa Bay moved five points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have two games in hand, for second place in the Atlantic Division.
"To not give one up, [Vasilevskiy] obviously had something to do with that," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "But it was never like he was under siege at all during the game. That's how we've got to play if we want to do anything in the spring.
"It definitely turned the tables from the last time we were here (6-0 loss on March 5). I thought the guys got rewarded tonight for the way they played."

Pyotr Kochetkov made 17 saves for the Hurricanes (47-17-9), who have lost three of four (1-2-1) and remained three points ahead of the New Jersey Devils for first place in the Metropolitan Division with one game in hand.
"Not a lot of spark to our game. Didn't play it the way we'd like to play it," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "It wasn't like we were giving up a boatload of chances, but we weren't getting enough to get a lot of emotion in the building."
Stamkos gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 5:58 of the second period, redirecting Mikhail Sergachev's slap pass five-hole on Kochetkov from near the left post.
"Just trying to get open there, and [Sergachev] had a good heads-up play and squeaked on through there," Stamkos said. "It was nice to get on the board. After that, we responded pretty well."

Point pushed it to 2-0 at 14:23. Kochetkov stopped a backhand from Stamkos that was redirected in front, but Point gathered the rebound below the goal line and shot the puck in off the goalie's right leg.
"I've seen a lot of guys who have been doing that lately," Point said. "It's a rebound and I'm just trying to put a puck in there. If it doesn't bounce off him, maybe it bounces to one of our guys."

Point then made it 3-0 at 12:17 of the third period, roofing a shot from the right circle after receiving a cross-ice pass from Stamkos.
Alex Killorn scored an empty-net goal at 15:39 for the 4-0 final.
"It's a hard game because you're trying to find it, and then you're trying to come back, too," Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook said. "We've got to figure out where our energy was, and we've got to regroup."
NOTES:Vasilevskiy's shutout was his third of the season and 31st in the NHL. … Point has four goals in his past four games. … The Hurricanes were 0-for-2 on the power play and are 3-for-27 in their past 12 games. … Carolina forward Stefan Noesen left with 1:10 remaining in the second period after sustaining a lower-body injury following a collision with Nicholas Paul. There was no update postgame.