@jayRecher
A shot from Sebastian Aho on the power play went off of Carolina captain Jordan Staal and past Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy 5:57 into overtime as the Hurricanes defeated the Lightning 3-2 on Thursday night at Amalie Arena.
The Lightning still lead the best-of-seven series 2-1.
Neither team scored in an ultra-competitive first period, but the Lightning did outshoot the Hurricanes 11-10.
Tampa Bay came out flying in the second period, getting closer and closer to a goal but Carolina netminder Petr Mrazek stood tall and it was the Hurricanes who took the first lead.
Following some sustained pressure in the Carolina zone, defenseman Brett Pesce took a pass from Andrei Svechnikov and roofed one over the blocker of Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevsky to give the Canes a 1-0 lead at 14:45.
Aho made it 2-0 Hurricanes just 2:25 later when he was able to get behind the Lightning defense and beat Vasilevskiy five-hole to extend the Carolina lead.
The Lightning answered right back on the next shift and drew a cross-checking call on Aho that proved to be costly for the Canes.
Brayden Point scored 56 seconds into the man-advantage after some deft passing from Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov to cut the Carolina lead to 2-1.
Tampa Bay continued to put the heat on the Hurricanes and after yet another penalty on Carolina, this time on Brady Skjei for hooking, the Lightning found the equalizer.
After Mrazek made a save on a shot by Kucherov, the Lightning's star winger found Alex Killorn in the slot & he snapped one past the Hurricanes netminder to make it 2-2 at the 16:18 mark of the second.
Mrazek stopped 35 of the 37 shots he saw on the night.
Vasilevskiy stopped 24 of 27.
ANOTHER MAN DOWN : Carolina forward Warren Foegele left the game with an upper-body injury and did not return after taking a hit from Erik Cernak in the neutral zone in the 2nd period. The Hurricanes were already without two forwards in their lineup, with both Nino Neiderreiter & Vincent Trocheck out.
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SCORING SUMMARY
1st Period
NONE
2nd Period
- Carolina - Pesce - (Svechnikov, Aho) - 5:15
- Carolina - Aho - (Teravainen, Slavin) - 7:40
- Tampa Bay - PPG - Point - (Kucherov, Stamkos) - 8:57
- Tampa Bay - PPG - Killorn - (Kucherov, Point) - 16:18
3rd Period
NONE
Overtime
- Carolina - PPG - Staal - (Aho, Teravainen) - 5:57
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PENALTY SUMMARY
1st Period
- Tampa Bay - Kucherov - (Interference) - 17:11
2nd Period
- Carolina - Aho - (Cross Checking) - 8:01
- Carolina - Skjei - (Hooking) - 15:52
3rd Period
- Carolina - Hamilton - (Tripping) - 18:52
Overtime
- Tampa Bay - Kucherov - (Holding the Stick) - 4:16
*****
What's Next For The Bolts : The Lightning and Hurricanes are back in action on Saturday as they face off in Game 4 of this best-of-seven Second Round matchup. Puck drop is slated for 4:00pm with the pregame show at 3:00pm on NewsRadio WFLA.
PHOTO : Getty Images