Thoughts From My Couch: Carolina Hurricanes v. Tampa Bay Lightning, Round 2, Game 4

After making this into a series with a 3-2 OT win in Game 3 on the road, the Canes are looking to compound their momentum into potentially tying the series and making it a best of three series with home-ice advantage. No major lineup changes as Warren Foegele is set to go after leaving Game 3 early and Petr Mrazek will be in net following his Game 3 win. The series has been a low-scoring affair this far, so it feels like the first team to score three or more goals is likely to win this game. Neither team has shown much of an ability to do so in this series, but they have been known to do it during the regular season. This is a huge game for the team since they've played like the better team for most of the three games thus far. Andrei Vasilevskiy has been a tough nut to crack, so this is going to be an uphill battle. 

1st Period: Hurricanes 0, Lightning 1

This game started exactly how I expected it to. I honestly had "matching penalties before the opening puck drop" on my BINGO card for this game, so I was very happy. All joking aside, I'm not sure I've ever seen that happen, though I guarantee it has. There was also a really bad missed call on Brady Skjei for high-sticking Nikita Kucherov, but I missed the explanation as to how it wasn't a penalty. After a weird start though, I thought the Lightning outplayed and out-chanced the Canes in the period. While the shot count would indicate that (TB 12-7), it just looked the part too. Tampa scored what I believe to be the first first-period goal of the series when Brayden Point beat Dougie Hamilton to the net for an easy tap-in, but this one isn't squarely on Hamilton. There was a pretty bad hooking call on Jordan Staal, but the Canes killed it so I didn't think much of it. Andrei Svechnikov also took a hooking penalty that was a little clearer, but the Canes killed that as well. It just didn't look all that great from my perspective and not how you want to start a game against a great team like Tampa Bay.

2nd Period: Hurricanes 4, Lightning 5

I'm am physically exhausted, but also slightly defeated after this period. I said in the opening that the team to score three goals first was going to win, but I no longer feel confident in that statement, especially when you consider that each time scored four times in one period. This period had almost as many goals as the other three games combined, that's how ridiculous it was. The Canes played great in the first 12 minutes of the period. Teuvo Teravainen scored on a nice feed from Jordan Staal to tie it, then Jesper Fast scored 39 seconds later to give the Canes a 2-1 lead. Jordan Martinook then took a very unnecessary roughing penalty on Jan Rutta that leads to a Steven Stamkos goal on the PP after Petr Mrazek can't handle a rebound cleanly. But have no fear because Dougie Hamilton scores from the point on a seeing-eye shot that Vasilevskiy didn't see cleanly and Jaccob Slavin follows up with a soft goal allowed by Vasilevskiy that he'd stop 99% of the time. Regardless, the Canes held a 4-2 lead with 7:19 left in the period and Andrei Vasilevskiy looked mortal for the first time in this series. That's when the wheels started falling off and the game, and possibly the series, took a steep nosedive. Jake Bean is called for holding and Nikita Kucherov beats Mrazek clean to make it 4-3. Tyler Johnson puts one past Mrazek after it deflects off Hamilton and knuckles over his glove to tie the game 4-4. Andrei Svechnikov takes a really bad roughing penalty on Yanni Gourde, which leads to Steven Stamkos scoring again to give Tampa Bay at 5-4 with under 30 seconds left in the period. Tampa Bay scored three unanswered to close the period and have a one-goal lead after two periods. It was just comically bad on the Canes' part. They showed no discipline at all and deserved every call. Do I think Mrazek should've stopped at least one of them from going in? Absolutely. Take your pick between the first Stamkos goal after he couldn't hold on to the puck, the Kucherov goal he had a clean look at, or the Johnson goal from far out. Any of those goals could've been prevented, but the Canes put themselves in this situation. You can't take four penalties against a great power play team expect to win only stopping 50% of them. Maybe I'm also a little mad because right as Svechnikov took the penalty on Gourde, Sebastian Aho was cross-checked in the back by Sergachev right in front of the ref and it should've really been a 4-on-4, but that's hearsay. Scoring goals is great as long as you're stopping the other team and the Canes did a horrible job in the last seven minutes of the period. An opportunity was seriously wasted.

3rd Period: Hurricanes 4, Lightning 6

This one stings because it was right there. I could taste a victory in the second period and I was abruptly smacked back into reality. The Canes drew the only penalty of the period, but couldn't establish anything after having success against Vasilevskiy in the period. They only allowed four shots the entire period, yet Tampa scored the only goal. A bad turnover at the point by Jake Bean leads to a 2-on-1 with Palat and Kucherov. Palat feeds Kucherov between the dots and beats Mrazek five-hole to make it a two-goal lead and effectively putting an end to this game early in the third period. This was another goal that I honestly felt Mrazek should've had. The Canes didn't generate any bit of offense until they pulled the goalie and by then it was too late. It was just a really disappointing way to end a game that you once led 4-2 with less than half the second period remaining. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Jordan Staal- 1 A, 63% on FO

It's usually hard to think of three stars after losses, but I felt Staal played a solid game all-around. He dominated in the face-off circle, as he has all season, and set up Turbo with a beautiful pass. The penalty they called on him was pretty bad, so that blemish in the box score isn't on him. He played a heavy game with four hits and two blocks. There's a reason he's the captain and he'll be just as important on Tuesday night.

Second Star- Jesper Fast- 1 G

This is less about how he played in this game and more about how much I like what he brings to the lineup. He scored a goal, which is great, but I felt he played well as a whole. He isn't someone that's going to light up the net and score 30 goals a season, but he has a role and he plays it very well. He was a great addition to this team and deserves some recognition.

First Star- Jaccob Slavin- 1 G, 1 A

Two points for a defenseman not known for scoring in bunches is good, but his goal, as ugly as it was, made me feel like they'd figured out how to beat Vasilevskiy. Though they would ultimately lose, it was important for me to feel it was possible for the Canes to score again. Leading the team in TOI or being amazing on defense is not new for him, but he was easily the best player on the ice for the Canes in this game.

Final Thoughts

This game had a few firsts for the series and the Canes. This was their first multi-goal loss of the playoffs for the Canes and the first multi-goal decision of this series. Special teams are always talking about as being major factors in winning a game and that couldn't be more true for this one. Tampa Bay scored three times on the PP and went perfect on the kill, albeit in two opportunities. The Canes had a great window during the second period, but they shot themselves in the foot by being undisciplined and it cost them big time. Svechnikov can't take three penalties in a game. I thought he was turning a corner, and he did have two assists in this game, but his roughing penalty led to the game-winner in the dying stages of the second period from Steven Stamkos. I will say there's a lot of Dougie hate out there, but personally, I don't subscribe to that at all. I thought he played a decent game. People are going to hate on him for his defensive game, but that has never been his game. He was not the reason the Canes lost this game. Down 3-1 in the series is not where you want to be against the defending champs. It'll be the first time the Canes will be facing elimination in the postseason and they get to come home for Game 5. There have to be some major changes if they expect to extend this series. I would anticipate we see some lineup changes for Tuesday night. Alex Nedeljkovic needs to be back in net for Game 5. I love Petr Mrazek and all he's done for this team, but Game 4 was bad on many levels. That's easy for me to say as someone who has never played, but it was painful to see the lead go to waste like that. I also think it's time for Jake Bean to sit and play Jake Gardiner. Bean has a bright future, but he made too many mistakes and they led to two goals. I don't think the series is over yet, but it very well could be on Tuesday night. They've dug themselves a hole. Time to climb out and fight like your season depends on it.