Lightning zap Hurricanes offence once again to secure 2nd straight road win
Carolina limited to another single goal to suffer Game 2 loss against Tampa Bay
Andrei Vasilevskiy has spent two games turning nearly every shot away for the Tampa Bay Lightning. A couple more, and the reigning Stanley Cup champions could be headed to the next round.
As in the first round against Florida, the Lightning have opened a best-of-seven series with a pair of road wins. This time, it comes against the Central Division champion and a team that was in the Presidents' Trophy hunt until the final week of the regular season.
"We've been through [road playoff games] before," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "And we've got a group that believes in how to play and what you need to do to shut a game down. ... I think when you just have that overall mentality and everybody puts the team first, good things and magical things can happen. And that's what these guys are doing."
Now Tampa Bay heads home for two games, with Game 3 on Thursday, and a chance to sweep.
"It was rocking these last two games," Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said of PNC Arena with more than 16,000 rowdy fans. "To come in here and get both wins was huge. We know how hard it is to win this time of the year, period."
Vasilevskiy finished with 31 saves after being named one of three finalists for the Vezina Trophy presented annually to the league's top goaltender. That came two days after he made 37 stops in Game 1, including 15 saves in the opening period.
Both games ended the same way, with Carolina down 2-1 and spending the final minute with the empty net and extra attacker in a desperate tying attempt.
"It does make you sit an inch taller on the bench when you've got him back there," Cooper said of Vasilevskiy.
Andrei Svechnikov got Carolina on the board with 1:30 left, taking a feed from Jordan Staal and finishing from the top of the crease.
Carolina had a 32-15 edge in shots on goal, but it also had more than double the giveaways (23-11) while Tampa Bay blocked 16 shots.
"It was a pretty good game, played pretty hard," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "You're playing the best team in the world and we're going toe-to-toe, that's how it feels like, that's for sure. Certainly not getting overwhelmed. We just didn't get a break.
"Two games, we're just fighting and trying to find that one and we haven't been able to get it."
WATCH | Examining McDavid's playoff ceiling after another early exit:
