
Wednesday, 4 a.m.
Just a suggestion for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Mid-March isn’t the best time for a slump in the NHL race.
The Bolts took another one on the nose Tuesday night, getting trounced decisively by the Carolina Hurricanes in a 4-1 defeat. Remember that scoring slump of January? Well, it’s back.
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Things had been going so much better for the Bolts. They had won 10 of 11 games, and they had pulled off a trade that was generally applauded. But in their last two games, the Bolts have scored just one goal and seem to be spinning out of control. They've given up 13 goals in their last three games.
Carolina scored two goals in the second period, then left it up to goalie Pyotr Kochetkov, who stopped 23 of 24 shots.
Gage Goncalves scored the only goal for the Bolts, who played the final period without star Nikita Kucherov.
Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy lost his second straight game, giving up four goals on 31 shots.
The Bolts travel to Philadelphia for a Thursday night game (7 p.m.) against the Flyers.