After Friday night’s loss to the Florida Panthers, the Carolina Hurricanes needed to do some soul-searching. Their stars had been largely outplayed, leading to a 5-2 loss in an Eastern Conference Finals rematch. Fortunately, there wasn’t time for the Canes to lick their wounds, traveling to Tampa Bay for their second meeting of the season with the Lightning just 24 hours later.
The lineup got a shakeup for the Hurricanes. Tony DeAngelo was back in the lineup, taking Jalen Chatfield’s spot. The forward lines were thrown in the blender, with the Staal line being broken up.