Tampa Bay Lightning: Tyler Johnson hat trick propels Bolts over Hurricanes

The Tampa Bay Lightning were propelled to victory by extraordinary performances from goaltender Louis Domingue and forward Tyler Johnson.

In his debut start of the season, goaltender Louis Domingue and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-2. Tyler Johnson dominated on offense, scoring his fifth career hat trick.

A common trend with the Bolts, the evening did not start out the way Bolts Nation hopes. About halfway into the first period, Micheal Ferland scores to put the Hurricanes up 1-0. About two minutes after the goal, Adam Erne is called for Tripping and sent to the penalty box.

With a typical disadvantage, Tyler Johnson and the penalty kill were able to skate down into the Hurricanes zone and score. This was Johnson’s first goal of the season, and of the night.

Six minutes into the second period, Johnson splits the defense and scores yet again to allow the Bolts to take the lead. Later on, Hurricanes forward Martin Necas scores to tie the score, 2-2.

In the third, with a tied game the Bolts went on the power play. In a crucial moment, Yanni Gourde put one past Petr Mrazek to allow the Lightning to take the lead once again.

Johnson finished off the hat trick with an empty-net goal, to conclude the score to 4-2. Domingue proved his worth to the Bolts with a .950 save percentage, and two goals allowed on 40 shots.

The Lightning was able to convert on both power-play and penalty-kill which shows our success in special teams. However, allowing excessive penalties is not beneficial, and the Hurricanes had four power play attempts.

The Hurricanes outshot the Lightning 40-27, which makes sense seeing that the Hurricanes lead the league in average shots per game at 42. The Lightning is the only team to still have a perfect penalty kill and even has two shorthanded goals so far this season.

Up next, the Tampa Bay Lightning takes on the Detroit Red Wings at the Amalie Arena on Thursday, closing the home-stand.