RALEIGH, N.C. _ Fresh off a four-game road trip, the Carolina Hurricanes were hoping a little home cooking would be all they need to get back in the win column. Turns out the ice at home was just as unkind as it was on the road.
Carolina dropped its second game in a row, falling to Tampa Bay, 5-1, in their first home game since Oct. 10.
The Hurricanes (3-3-1) almost made it through the first period without surrendering a goal, but Tampa Bay (8-1-1) was able to sneak one in at the 19:25 mark. Tyler Johnson, off the assist from Ondrei Palat, got one past goalie Scott Darling to start the scoring.
Carolina started the game aggressive, at one time having a 7-5 shots on goal advantage. But the Lightning asserted themselves the closer they got to intermission, taking five shots to the Canes' zero before the break. Tampa Bay was able to take advantage of its only power play, while Carolina got nothing out of their two in the first period.
Less than one minute into the second period the Canes found themselves at a disadvantage right out the gate as Justin Williams was called for slashing. At the 9:13 mark, the Lightning found the back of the net again, this time on a goal from Mikhail Sergachev off the assist from Steven Stamkos to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
The Hurricanes missed a golden opportunity to score in the second period, with Williams missing from point-blank range at the 3:43 mark, a shot that barely bounced off the glove of Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Carolina was finally able to break through the wall known as Vasilevskiy when Jacob Slavin found an alley in the shooting lane and got one to go in, making it 2-1 with 16:32 remaining. It was the first time all night the Hurricanes were able to take advantage of a power play and the second goal of the season for Slavin.
The Lightning scored two empty-net goals in the final three minutes to double up the lead on the Hurricanes. Vladislav Namestnikov scored with 2:33 remaining in the game followed by a goal from Ryan Callahan with less than one minute showing on the clock. The Hurricanes went to sleep with four seconds remaining, allowing Nikita Kucherov to score, extending his point streak to 10 games.
Carolina travels to Toronto on Thursday for a showdown with the Maple Leafs.
