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Brayden Point and Ross Colton scored and Andrei Vasilevskiy had a 29-save shutout as the Lightning blanked the Hurricanes 2-0 in Game 5 of their second-round series Tuesday at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C.
Tampa Bay, which won the series four games to one, advanced to the Stanley Cup semifinals for the fifth time in five seasons.
Here’s how it happened:
Third period
Nedeljkovic makes a save on a Maroon wraparound attempt
Fast shoots wide after a rush down the right side
Nedeljkovic stops Point from the slot after he got in behind the Hurricanes defense and took a pass from Palat
Hakanpaa beats Gourde to the puck just inside the Carolina zone, thwarting a potential 2-on-1
Johnson feeds Maroon in front off the net off the rush, but Maroon can’t get the shot to go and then Colton has a couple of chances in front.
Nedeljkovic stops Kucherov chance from in front
Slavin backhander blocked by Slavin’s stick
LIGHTNING GOAL! Colton scores from the right circle. He faked a drop pass for Johnson and put a knuckler on net that got under the glove of Nedeljkovic. The play started with a turnover at the far blue line. Lightning 2, Hurricanes 0.
Palat penalized for an illegal check to the head of Pesce, giving Carolina a power play with just over seven minutes remaining. The Hurricanes did not score on their first two chances with the man-advantage
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Explore all your optionsNecas shoots off the glass after McDonagh is unable to clear the puck
Goodrow gets the puck out of the zone
Vasilevskiy saves Hamilton shot from the right point
Vasilevskiy goes into a split to save Bean shot from the point
Sergachev blocks Svechnikov shot from the left circle
Cernak steps in front of Staal shot from the right circle
Lightning kill the penalty
Hakanpaa shot goes off the boards
Bean shot goes wide with Aho at the side of the net
Stamkos shot deflected into the corner with the net empty
Sergachev shot blocked
(Lightning win 2-0, clinch the series)
Second period
Aho and Stamkos in the penalty box as the period gets underway, so we’ll start 4 on 4
Coleman shoots wide of the net
Aho and Stamkos are out of the box, and we’re back to 5-on-5 play
Gourde goes hard to the crease and Nedeljkovic briefly loses his stick
Gourde shot from above the left circle goes off Goodrow and in on Nedeljkovic, who makes the save
Maroon draws interference penalty from Hakanpaa
Vasilevskiy stretches to stop Trocheck on shorthanded 2-on-1 chance with Staal
LIGHTNING GOAL: Brayden Point scores on the power play with a magnificent backhand-forehand-backhand finish after a cross-ice feed from Alex Killorn. The goal is fourth for Point, sixth in the past seven games and eighth of the playoffs. Lightning 1, Hurricanes 0. 15:54 left in period.
Colton hits the post on a 2-on-1 with Johnson
Palat penalized for hooking Aho
Nedeljkovic saves Goodrow shot from the slot on a shorthanded breakaway
McDonagh skates out of the Lightning zone with the puck
Necas shot blocked by Hedman
A sliding Goodrow clears the puck
Svechnikov gets in alone on Vasilevskiy, who manages to keep the puck out of the net
Lightning kill the penalty
Vasilevskiy saves Slavin backhander from just above the goal line
Nedeljkovic saves Kucherov shot from the slot after Point won a puck battle behind the net and fed him in front
Tyler Johnson flies into the Carolina zone, but Brett Pesce strips him of the puck
Johnson gets the puck back and fires high from between the circles
Sergachev blocks Hamilton chance from just above the right circle with his skate
Vasilevskiy stops Hamilton shot from the left circle off the rush
Vasilevskiy stops tipped shot with Fast in front
Hedman shot tipped wide of the net by Goodrow
Sergachev hurting after blocking Hamilton shot from the slot
Necas shot from the right circle goes off the knob of Vasilevskiy’s stick
Skjei shot blocked by Savard
Johnson shot from right circle misses wide
Erik Cernak shot from above the right circle beats Nedeljkovic on the glove side but time had expired
(Lightning lead 1-0 after two periods)
First period
Alex Nedeljkovic saves Blake Coleman tip
Steven Stamkos drives to the front of the net and draws a slashing penalty from Nino Niederreiter after a Brett Pesce turnover
Jordan Staal wins the faceoff and Carolina clears the zone
Staal forces a turnover in the neutral zone and sends the puck back into the Tampa Bay zone
Jaccob Slavin forces a turnover and Victor Hedman has to break up a scoring chance in his own end
Carolina clears the puck two more times
Brock McGinn steals the puck and clears the zone. That’ll do it for the Lightning power play, on which they generated one shot on goal
Andrei Svechnikov misses wide from the slot and Staal can’t convert from in front after a Ryan McDonagh turnover in the Tampa Bay zone
Nedeljkovic makes a right pad save on Hedman chance from the low in the right circle
Andrei Vasilevskiy makes a stop on a Vincent Trocheck drive to the net
Pat Maroon serves a too many men on the ice penalty, and Carolina goes on the power play
Erik Cernak blocks Teravainen blast
Vasilevskiy stops Necas shot with the heel of his glove
Sergachev blocks Aho shot
Dougie Hamilton breaks up shorthanded 2-on-1 chance with Hedman and Goodrow
Lightning kill the penalty
Coleman shot off the rush misses wide
Vasilevskiy makes save on Teravainen shot from between his legs
Vasilevskiy gloves Martinook rebound attempt from the left circle
Brady Skjei and Blake Coleman penalized for roughing, so we’ll have 4-on-4 play for two minutes
Trocheck levels Anthony Cirelli near center ice with a hip check
Brayden Point can’t connect with Nikita Kucherov on a centering pass from below the goal line
Nedeljkovic stops a Hedman slap shot from the right circle
Ondrej Palat shoved off the puck in the slot
Back to 5 on 5
Ross Colton backhands a pass into the slot, but there’s nobody there
Nedeljkovic stops Tyler Johnson shot from the right circle
Colton misses wide
Palat shot from the point can’t get through
David Savard shot from the right point saved and covered by Nedeljkovic with Palat battling in front
Vasilevskiy stops Svechnikov shot low in the left circle off the rush after stealing the puck from Cernak
Vasilevskiy saves Morgan Geekie shot from above the left circle
Kucherov shoots high and wide from the left circle
Johnson threads a pass through the crease to Maroon, but his tip goes up over the net
Vasilevskiy steers aside Hamilton shot from the top of the right circle
Palat skating into the Carolina zone with a head of steam, but Slavin muscles him off the puck
Aho and Stamkos receive roughing minors as the period comes to a close. Aho engaged Stamkos after Stamkos hit Skjei from behind.
(No score after the first period)
Your pregame scouting report
How do you want to play? Fast and loose? Tight-checking? Leave things to the special teams?
Whatever the style of play, the Lightning have shown this postseason they can play — and win — them all.
They won shootouts with the Panthers and low-scoring affairs against the Hurricanes. On Saturday, their power play took over a game after Carolina opened the door with some ill-advised second-period penalties.
Now up three games to one, the Lightning find themselves with three chances to clinch the second-round series against the Central Division champions, starting with Game 5 tonight before more than 16,000 Caniacs at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C.
Tampa Bay’s top line had a lot to do with putting it in this position, as center Brayden Point (goal, assist), left wing Ondrej Palat (two assists) and right wing Nikita Kucherov (two goals, assist) combined for seven points in Saturday’s Game 4 win in Tampa.
Three goals came on the power play, and fourth-line center Tyler Johnson contributed the tying goal before Steven Stamkos, who had two goals of his own, netted the game-winner in the 6-4 victory.
Alex Nedljkovic, who started the first two games before yielding the net to Petr Mrazek for the next two, is back in goal for the Hurricanes. Forwards Vincent Trocheck and Nino Niederreiter also are back in the lineup, though forward Warren Foegele is out.
Follow our live updates tonight, starting at 6:30 p.m., as Tampa Bay aims to eliminate Carolina and advance to the Stanley Cup semifinals for the fifth time in the past seven seasons.
Setting the scene
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