The Hurricanes took a 3-2 lead into the third period against the President’s Trophy winning Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday night, but could not close it out in a 6-3 loss. The team will be glad to have survived a pair of injury scares after Jordan Staal took a hit to the head in the first and Sebastian Aho and Nino Niederreiter collided knee to knee in the second.
The biggest reason for the Canes’ loss was the cardinal sin of putting one of the best power plays in the history of the NHL on the ice too many times, and not being able to convert on their own man advantages.