Nikita Kucherov scored a hat trick within the ultimate 9 minutes and the Tampa Bay Lightning posted a 4-1 victory in opposition to the Carolina Hurricanes within the season opener for each groups Friday evening in Raleigh, N.C.
Brayden Level scored the primary Tampa Bay purpose, with Kucherov selecting up an help on the purpose. Kucherov added two empty-net objectives, together with the final one with 16 seconds left.
The primary two Lightning objectives got here on energy performs.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for the Lightning, who responded rapidly with the Hurricanes utilizing an additional attacker with greater than two minutes to play.
Jordan Staal opened the scoring with a purpose for the Hurricanes, who had bother producing sustained offense for giant chunks of the sport. Frederik Andersen stopped 19 photographs in Carolina’s nets.
Kucherov’s goal-ahead purpose got here on a blast from the highest of the best circle.
Andersen had stopped Anthony Cirelli’s breakaway previous to the Carolina penalty that led to the facility play.
Staal scored 14:32 into the sport, with Carolina newcomer William Service notching his first level with an help. Jordan Martinook’s prolonged forechecking for the Hurricanes helped arrange the scoring sequence.
The Lightning held a 9-6 edge on first-period photographs, they usually lastly broke by means of within the second interval. Level scored on a power-play wrister 2:33 into the interval simply 12 seconds into the extra-man benefit.
That got here on the primary of three second-period penalties known as in opposition to the Hurricanes, who needed to kill off one other penalty within the third.
The sport marked the debut for rookie winger Jackson Blake with the Hurricanes. He was the group’s solely rookie within the opening-night lineup.
The groups had been supposed to fulfill in a rematch Saturday evening in Tampa, however that recreation has been postponed due to ongoing restoration efforts in Florida associated to Hurricane Milton. The house states of each of those groups have been coping with hurricane recoveries in latest weeks.
–Area Stage Media
