The Lightning’s playoff path will go through Carolina.
Tampa Bay found out its next postseason opponent Thursday night, when the Hurricanes advanced to the second round with a series-clinching Game 6 overtime win over the Predators at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Sebastian Aho scored just 66 seconds into overtime as the Hurricanes rallied from down 3-1.
The Lightning were 4-3-1 against the Hurricanes this year, and the teams played mostly low-scoring, tightly-contested games during the regular season.
Playing a pressure-filled, tight-checking game that takes away an opponent’s space, Carolina has given the Lightning trouble. The Lightning’s 2.13 goals per game against Carolina was their lowest against any opponent, and two of Tampa Bay’s shutout losses were to the Hurricanes.
The NHL hasn’t announced game times for the Round 2 series, but it appears the series will open Sunday in Raleigh, N.C., according to NBC. By finishing first in the Central Division, the Hurricanes hold home-ice advantage over Tampa Bay, so Games 1 and 2 will be played at PNC Arena before the series moves to Amalie Arena for Games 3 and 4.
The Hurricanes were tested by the Predators in the first round. After the Hurricanes took a 2-0 series lead, the next four games went to overtime, and Nashville won two of those games at home before Carolina was victorious in Games 5 and 6.
Carolina plans to increase capacity to 15,000 fans for home games at PNC Arena in the second round, up from 12,000 in the opening round of the playoffs. The Lightning lost three of their four road games against the Hurricanes this season, including two shutout losses. They were outscored 13-4 in those games.
Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy had a .933 save percentage and 2.14 goals against average in seven starts against the Hurricanes, who averaged 32 shots on goal against him. Hurricanes rookie goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic, a Calder Trophy favorite, allowed just 1.02 goals a game and had a .962 save percentage in three regular-season meetings with the Lightning.
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