The Carolina Hurricanes picked up a huge win in Game 3 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, coming away with an overtime victory for their first win of the series.
The huge piece of news coming into the game was that Petr Mrazek would be getting the start, after Alex Nedeljkovic started the first eight games of the playoffs. It was a pretty bold move by Rod Brind’Amour but the Hurricanes had lost the goaltending battle in the first two games of the series and needed to eliminate any more soft goals being allowed. Vincent Trocheck was also out for the Hurricanes and as a result, Morgan Geekie entered the lineup.
The game started with an even first period that saw some good chances for both teams. There were some really good shots off the rush, especially for the Lightning, but it was a pretty balanced frame overall.
Brett Pesce opened the scoring in the second period, after the Hurricanes got a chance on the rush after a bad line change by Tampa Bay. Carolina would then add to their lead just two minutes later, as Sebastian Aho got in alone after Teuvo Teravainen tipped Jaccob Slavin’s stretch pass right to him and he was able to beat Andrei Vasilevskiy to extend the lead to 2-0.
Tampa Bay would respond quickly though, as Brayden Point finished off a great tic-tac-toe goal on the power play to cut Carolina’s lead to a single goal. Then on another power play, Nikita Kucherov would get his own rebound and feed Alex Killorn in front to tie the game, heading into the third period.
Both teams played a bit more cautiously in the third period, which saw just 14 shots total. That said, Petr Mrazek did have to make some good saves in the dying seconds of the third period, to prevent the Lightning from scoring their third power play goal of the game.
The game went to overtime, with Carolina desperately needing a win to avoid going down 3-0 in the series. Fortunately, the Hurricanes had a bounce go their way, as Sebastian Aho’s shot deflected in off Jordan Staal to give Carolina the win.
Petr Mrazek played very, very well for the Hurricanes. He was a difference-maker and for the first time this series, the Hurricanes won the goaltending battle.
That said, this was also the first game where Carolina was probably outplayed. Regardless though, they got the win and now just need one more win to even the series.
***NOTE: We've launched a HockeyBuzz Hurricanes Twitter account! For anyone interested, you can follow @HB_Canes for updates on articles, Hurricanes news, etc.***
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»