The Carolina Hurricanes prospects remained undefeated at the 2023 Southeast Rookie Showcase as they notched another win on their belt with a 4-3 shootout win over the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday afternoon.
The Canes were down 2-0 heading into the third period, but three unanswered goals in quick succession pushed Carolina into the lead. Tampa would end up striking back on a late power play, but the Hurricanes would seal the comeback win in the shootout.
Early on, the Hurricanes had a rough go of it. The Bolts came out flying and had Carolina pushed back on their heels for the first ten minutes of the game before finally breaking through for a 1-0 lead.
The Canes were a bit sluggish to start, which is to be expected after having played less than 24 hours before, but two late power play opportunities helped to get the Canes' feet back underneath them.
The second period was a bit more even, but still a bit sluggish, however, the Lightning would convert on another power play opportunity and take a 2-0 lead into the third period.
But the third period would be Carolina's best and the team started to look the way they are expected to look. The team started to get to their forecheck and generate more and more chances, but surprisingly, it wasn't until they were shorthanded that they struck.
While on the kill, Justin Robidas led the charge up ice on a shorthanded rush and fluttered a pass across to a charging Griffin Mendel who had gotten the edge on the last Lightning. He took a shot, followed his own rebound, and knocked home the Canes' first goal.
Then not long after that, Ryan Suzuki was fed a below-the-goal line feed as he cut across the goal mouth and with a subtle move, he got the goaltender to bite and slid the puck into the open cage.
The Hurricanes eventfully got another power play chance midway through the third and they finally got one to go.
Vasily Ponomarev took a sharp angle shot that was fought off by the Lightning goaltender, but Robidas was cruising by the crease and batted home the airborne rebound to take the lead.
While the late surge for the comeback looked to have Carolina squarely in the driver's seat, the Canes ended up being called for a hold and Tampa managed to tie it back up late in the third.
Overtime couldn't decide a winner, so the two teams went to the shootout.
Suzuki, Noel Gunler and Blake Murray all scored for Carolina and Yaniv Perets turned aside four of six shots to secure the win. Perets was perhaps the Canes' best player against the Lightning, turning aside 29 of the 32 shots he faced as he went the distance.
The Hurricanes will play their final game of the showcase against the Nashville Predators Monday at 10am.