Lightning stay hot, storm past Hurricanes 5-1
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Tyler Johnson had a goal and assist as the Tampa Bay Lightning remained the top team in the NHL through 10 games after defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 5-1 on Tuesday night at PNC Arena.
Mikhail Sergachev also scored for the Lightning (8-1-1), who were headed toward a fifth one-goal victory until empty-net goals from Vladislav Namestnikov and Ryan Callahan. Then Tampa Bay right winger Nikita Kucherov extended his season-opening points streak to 10 games with a goal with four seconds left.
It was the first two-point game of the season for Johnson.
Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 31 saves and notched his eighth victory of the season. He allowed defenseman Jaccob Slavin's goal with 16:32 remaining.
Johnson scored on a power play with 35 seconds remaining in the first period. He knocked the puck in after Ondrej Palat's shot trickled off goalie Scott Darling's body.
Sergachev's second-period goal came when Steven Stamkos corralled a loose puck in front of the net and regained his balance before delivering a pass.
Stamkos, the NHL scoring leader, produced his 19th and 20th points of the season. He has at least one point in all 10 games.
Sergachev, a rookie, has scored four goals in the past three games.
The Hurricanes (3-3-1), playing at home for the first time in two weeks, cut the deficit to 2-1 when Slavin delivered after right winger Josh Jooris did much of the grunt work to keep the puck. Jooris picked up his first point with the Hurricanes with an assist.
Carolina has scored nine of its 17 goals this season in the third period.
Darling posted 24 saves, with 18 of those in the opening two periods.
Johnson has five goals in 15 career games against Carolina.
NOTES: Hurricanes C Elias Lindholm played in his 300th NHL game (all with Carolina). ... The Hurricanes were coming off a Saturday loss at Dallas, where they allowed three third-period shots. Then Tampa Bay managed only five shots for the first 18 minutes Tuesday until a power play. ... Lightning RW J.T. Brown was in the lineup for only the second time this season. ... While the teams meet again in January, the Lightning won't return to Carolina until the April 7 regular-season finale. ... The Lightning are home for its next two games, beginning Thursday night against the Detroit Red Wings. The Hurricanes play Thursday night at Toronto.