Lightning 4, Hurricanes 2

The Carolina Hurricanes had been red hot at home but ran into a determined Tampa Bay team as they lost to the Lightning, 4-2 on Sunday night at the PNC Arena.

Cam Ward allowed three goals on 17 shots while counterpart Ben Bishop made some huge saves down the stretch for the visitors.

The Hurricanes took a 1-0 lead 11:10 into the game when Jordan Staal made a pretty pass to Joakim Nordstrom, who backhanded the puck past Bishop.  The goal was Nordstrom's first career shorthanded tally and the Canes second of the season.

J.T. Brown would tie the game early in the second period when he banged in a rebound from in close.  Brown's father, who starred for NC State football, was watching the game with the other Lightning fathers.

Later in the second, Ryan Callahan made the score 2-1 when he beat Ward on the short side from a tight angle.  While the goalie has played very good hockey for much of the past couple of months, the short side has been a major weakness of Ward's for much of this season.

The Canes would tie the score when Michal Jordan skated the puck in, took it behind the net, and beat Bishop on a wrap around.  It was the defenseman's first goal of the season.

With the score tied 2-2, the third period was a hard fought one but Steven Stamkos got wide open during a powerplay chance and he made no mistake scoring the game-winner.

The Hurricanes put on a lot of pressure in the Lightning zone but could not get another one by Bishop, who stopped Jeff Skinner on a nice stretched leg save from in close late in the game.

Callahan would finish the scoring with an empty-netter.

Next up will be the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.

Game Notes:

• The Canes outshot the Bolts 17-7 in the third period and 31-18 for the game.  Eric Staal led the way with five shots on goal and also had a team high six hits, tying his career high.
• The team had 17 blocked shots and were led by John-Michael Liles who had five.
• Event Summary