Winners of back-to-back games, the Carolina Hurricanes welcomed the division-leading, defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning into PNC Arena on Saturday night.
It was perhaps Carolina’s biggest game of the season for a number of reasons, but chief among them was the fact that the Canes could pull within one point of the Bolts in the divisional standings with a win while holding onto a game in hand.
It was a doozy.
I’m not sure the Hurricanes could’ve gotten off to a worse start.
Getting a spot in the starting lineup against his former team, Cedric Paquette went to the box just 17 seconds into the game for high-sticking Tampa defenseman Callan Foote.