TAMPA, Fla. – A younger group of Carolina Hurricanes showed plenty of fight on Friday, hanging with a more veteran Tampa Bay Lightning roster in a 6-5 loss at Benchmark International Arena.
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Tampa raced out to a 2-0 lead midway through the first as Zemgus Girgensons found a pair, but the Canes responded before the end of the frame as Kevin Labanc connected with Givani Smith in front for a close-range tap-in. A quieter second period yielded just one goal – Wojciech Stachowiak’s first of the night to stretch Tampa’s lead back to two – before six goals in the third period set up a frenzied finish.
After a quick Lightning strike gave Tampa its largest lead of the night in the opening minutes of the frame, Carolina fought back with goals by Gleb Trikozov and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, separated by just 50 seconds, to get within one. Both teams continued to trade goals – Stachowiak nabbing his second for Tampa, Noel Gunler redirecting a shot home for Carolina – before a Lightning power-play goal made it 6-4 and seemed to put the game out of reach.
The Canes continued to push, eventually reducing the deficit back to one with a Bradly Nadeau marker at 19:48, but ultimately ran out of time as the Bolts held on for the win.
Amir Miftakhov, making his first preseason start as a Hurricane, stopped 22 of 28 shots as he played all 60 minutes for the visitors.
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