*Photo from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle*
The storm surge is starting to pick up steam once again. Jesperi Kotkaniemi had a 5 point game, Teuvo Teravainen had a hat trick, and the Carolina Hurricanes shut out the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 6-0 victory on Sunday in Raleigh.
Kotkaniemi's goal and 4 assists for a 5 point game are a career best. New acquisition Shayne Gostisbehere had a goal and two assists, while Teravainen recorded a hat trick. The Hurricanes have won two in a row, 7 of their last 9, and 14 of their last 17 to remain in first in the Metro Division.
Carolina head coach Rod Brind'Amour said of the large dose of success that "I think it helps the guys feel good about themselves. You want to have some confidence. We've had a lot of games this year where we put a lot of action at the net but didn't score. Especially against these guys, generally, we don't get a lot because their goalie is the difference. So, it's nice to see us get a few."
On the other side of the spectrum from the Hurricanes is the Lightning. After the entire top line was benched for the whole 3rd period on Saturday, the Lightning couldn't shake out of their recent rut, taking another loss. They've dropped 5 in a row and are just 2-5-3 in their last 10 games.
Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos said that "No one is happy about what's gone on here in the last little bit. When things start to go wrong, it can get in your head a little bit. We've been in this skid for a while now, and we've got to work ourselves out of it as players and coaches. I think people forget we've lost some good players, we've had some young guys come up."
It was Andrei Svechnikov who started the scoring, giving the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead with his 22nd goal of the season, coming unassisted 6:30 into the game. On the power play at the 17:13 mark of the first, Teravainen scored his 8th goal of the season to double the lead to 2-0, with assists from Kotkaniemi and Gostisbehere.
Later in the second period, Teravainen scored his second goal of the game, assisted by Kotkaniemi and Martin Necas 11:57 into the middle frame. Just under 4 minutes later, with the Hurricanes on the power play, Gostisbehere made the lead 4-0 after two periods on his 12th goal of the season, also assisted by Kotkaniemi and Necas.
At the 11:03 mark of the 3rd period, it was Teravainen's turn once again, capping off the hat trick on his 10th goal of the season, assisted by Gostisbehere and Kotkaniemi. The Hurricanes then added their 4th power play goal of the game when Kotkaniemi scored with 3:26 left on the clock, assisted by Necas and Brent Burns.
Getting the start in goal for the Hurricanes was Frederik Andersen, who picked up the win to improve to 15-6-0 on the season. Andersen stopped all 14 shots that came his way from the Lightning as he got his first shutout of the season.
It was Andrei Vasilevskiy in goal for the Lightning, who was peppered with shots in the loss. Vasilevskiy turned away 32 out of the 38 shots on goal the Hurricanes had, good for a .842 save percentage. His record dropped to 28-16-3 in 47 starts.
Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said after the game that "We're in a rut right now, and at some point you've just got to work your way out of it. Guys have got routines. They're used to making plays, and when that's off a bit, guys start questioning themselves. We're just not executing right now, so it's slowing our game down. As coaches, we've got to instill some confidence in these guys. We've got a veteran group in there, so we'll be all right."
Both teams resume game action on Tuesday night. The Hurricanes travel to face the Montreal Canadiens, with Andersen expected to start. Vasilevskiy is in line to start for the Lightning against the Philadelphia Flyers at home.
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