Nikita Kucherov scored a hat trick in the final nine minutes and the Tampa Bay Lightning earned a 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night in Raleigh, North Carolina, in the season opener for both teams.
Brayden Point scored his first goal for Tampa Bay, and Kucherov assisted on the goal. Kucherov added two empty-net goals, including his final goal with 16 seconds left.
The Lightning’s first two goals came on the power play.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for the Lightning, and the Hurricanes quickly responded by bringing in an extra attacker with more than two minutes left.
The Hurricanes, led by Jordan Staal in goal, were unable to generate sustained offense for much of the game. Frederik Andersen stopped 19 shots from hitting the net for Carolina.
Kucherov’s goal in front of the goal was deflected from the top of the right circle.
Andersen had stopped Anthony Cirelli’s breakaway before Carolina’s penalty, which led to a power play.
Staal scored 14:32 into the game, and Carolina rookie William Carrier scored his first point with an assist. An extended forecheck by the Hurricanes’ Jordan Martinook helped set up the scoring sequence.
The Lightning held a 9-6 advantage in shots in the first period and finally broke through in the second period. 2:33 into the period, he scored a point with a power-play wrister just 12 seconds from the extra man advantage.
This was done on the first of three second-period penalties taken against the Hurricanes, who had to nullify another penalty on the third.
This game marked rookie winger Jackson Blake’s debut with the Hurricanes. He was the team’s only rookie to remain in the Opening Day lineup.
The teams were scheduled to play again Saturday night in Tampa, but that game was postponed due to ongoing recovery efforts in Florida related to Hurricane Milton. Both teams’ home bases have been working to recover from the Hurricanes in recent weeks.
–Field level media
