In a thriller of a game, the Carolina Hurricanes defeat Tampa Bay on home ice in Southwest Florida. They took a sizable lead in the first period, going to the first intermission on a three-goal headway. Tampa Bay, however, was not about to go down without a fight. By the final buzzer, Tampa had crawled to within one despite a fervent Hurricanes defense and red-hot James Reimer.
Despite giving up three goals in the first period, former Hurricane Curtis McElhinney shut the door on Carolina for the remainder of the evening and giving the Lightning a fighting chance in the game.