Coming off a great win over Edmonton the night before Thanksgiving, the Carolina Hurricanes were riding high heading into the fourth game of their homestand. The Tampa Bay Lightning surged into town for the first meeting in Raleigh and the final meeting of the season series, with each team splitting in Tampa with shutout wins by Jonas Johansson and Pyotr Kochetkov. With fans out in droves on Black Friday, PNC Arena was rocking for the rubber match.
The goaltending matchup provided optimism for both sides. Antti Raanta got the start after leaving Wednesday’s win during the first intermission for precautionary reasons.