Tampa Bay Lightning at Carolina Hurricanes

· National Hockey League

Tampa Bay Lightning

38-15-4

Final
4 - 5

Carolina Hurricanes

37-15-6

Aho's power-play goal helps Hurricanes beat Lightning 5-4 in meeting of Eastern Conference's best

Sebastian Aho scores power-play goal vs. Lightning

Aho's shot from up top slipped past Jonas Johansson, with Carolina captain Jordan Staal rooted in front of Johansson at the top of the crease to make it 5-4 at the 7:17 mark of the third.

That decided a back and forth matchup of the Eastern Conference's top two teams, with Carolina jumping to a 3-0 lead in the first seven minutes in its return from the Olympic break only to see Tampa Bay tie it early in the second period.

The game ended with the Hurricanes holding up against the Lightning going with an extra attacker for the last three minutes, with multiple Lightning players diving on the ice to stop Carolina's repeated attempts at an empty-net clincher until the horn sounded.

Carolina pushed its point streak to 11 games, while Tampa Bay lost in regulation for only the second time since Dec. 18.

Nikolaj Ehlers, Logan Stankoven, Taylor Hall and Seth Jarvis scored goals for Carolina, while Brandon Bussi had 24 saves as the Hurricanes won despite blowing a three-goal lead against the Lightning for the second time this season.

Brandon Hagel, Nikita Kucherov, Dominic James and Brayden Point scored for the Lightning. Johansson had 28 saves.

Both the Hurricanes and Lightning had been rolling going into the Olympic break. Tampa Bay's tear went back longer, though, with the Lightning winning five straight and 19 of 21 before returning with Wednesday's 4-2 win against Toronto.

The Lightning were again without head coach Jon Cooper. The team announced Wednesday he would miss the Toronto and Carolina games after his father's death, with assistant Rob Zettler serving as acting head coach.

Up next Lightning: Tampa Bay hosts Buffalo on Saturday.

Hurricanes: Carolina hosts Detroit on Saturday.

Regular Season Series

Series tied 1-1

Scoring Summary

Goal	1st Period 1:43	Nikolaj Ehlers Goal (15) Snap Shot, assists: K'Andre Miller (20), Jordan Martinook (12)
Goal	1st Period 2:56	Logan Stankoven Goal (11) Snap Shot, assists: Taylor Hall (16), Jalen Chatfield (13)
Goal	1st Period 6:41	Taylor Hall Goal (13) Wrist Shot, assists: Jackson Blake (18), Logan Stankoven (16)
Goal	1st Period 16:30	Brandon Hagel Goal (28) Snap Shot, assists: Scott Sabourin (3), Jake Guentzel (35)
Goal	1st Period 17:05	Nikita Kucherov Goal (31) Snap Shot, assists: Brayden Point (21), J.J. Moser (15)
Goal	2nd Period 1:58	Dominic James Goal (6) Snap Shot, assists: Jake Guentzel (36), Ryan McDonagh (7)
Goal	2nd Period 7:21	Seth Jarvis Goal (26) Wrist Shot, assists: Andrei Svechnikov (29), Mark Jankowski (9)
Goal	2nd Period 14:02	Brayden Point Goal (14) Snap Shot, assists: Jake Guentzel (37), Darren Raddysh (36)
Goal	3rd Period 7:17	Sebastian Aho Goal (21) Slap Shot, assists: Seth Jarvis (19), Andrei Svechnikov (30)

Statistics

TB		CAR
20	Blocked Shots	16
15	Hits	23
6	Takeaways	7
28	Shots	33
1	Power Play Goals	1
2	Power Play Opportunities	2
50.0	Power Play Percentage	50.0
0	Short Handed Goals	0
0	Shootout Goals	0
36	Faceoffs Won	29
55.4	Faceoff Win Percent	44.6
20	Giveaways	20
2	Total Penalties	2
4	Penalty Minutes	4