Game 1 went to the Lightning, as they held on to win a 2-1 goaltending battle on the road Saturday.

Lightning vs. Hurricanes Stanley Cup Odds

76 percent of bettors have placed their bets on the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning at -107. Game one of round two was the first time the Hurricanes have lost on home ice so far this postseason. Carolina is now 23-4-5 overall on home ice and being in front of 16,299 screaming Caneiacs could power them to even the series.

Although both squads feature a dangerous offence, they’ve only played the over once in nine meetings this year. Sunday night’s goaltending battle was sealed by a weak goal allowed by Canes goalie Alex Nedeljkovic late in the third. With the over/under at 5.5 and the odds even at -110 each, 60 percent of bettors are taking the over.

Both teams had identical records against the spread going into game one and with Tampa covering on Sunday, their record is 28-35 overall.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped the puck 37 times on the 38 Hurricanes shots he faced in Game 1, marking the fourth time in seven games that he has allowed a goal or less this postseason. No stranger to playoff hockey, Vasi has a career .921 save percentage and 2.38 goals-against average in 65 playoff appearances.

Barclay Goodrow snuck the game-winner short side to put the Bolts up 2-1 in the third period. In 49 playoff games, he has only scored four goals, but he makes them count as three of them are game-winners.

Nikita Kucherov’s assist on the opening powerplay goal brought him to 12 points in 7 games so far this postseason. Kucherov, tied for the lead in scoring missed the regular season after having surgery in the off-season.

The Bolts blueline has been shaken up to start the series. David Savard did not play in game one after suffering an upper-body injury sometime after round one. Erik Cernak should be good to go for game 2, says his coach after getting helped off from a sandwich between a pair of Hurricanes.

Carolina Hurricanes

The Hurricanes lead the game with 38 shots and ended with 16 scoring chances but they just could not get the puck past the Lightning’s netminder.

Rookie defenceman Jake Bean tied the game at one on his first career NHL playoff goal early in the third. The powerplay goal was their only conversion on five attempts, bringing their postseason percentage to 20.8. While the powerplay has been subpar, their penalty kill is running at a nice 86.2 percent. To keep that up they will have to stop the league’s best powerplay; which did not happen in Game 1.

Cane’s forward Nino Niederreiter will miss the entire second round according to coach Rob Brind’Amour. Niederreiter played all six games in the first round picking up a goal, but got hurt in practice on Saturday and did not play in the series opener.

With him out, Cedric Paquette made his 2021 NHL playoff debut. Paquette was a member of the Stanley Cup-winning Lightning team last year and being the hard nose player he is, it will be fun to see how he treats his former teammates.

NHL Playoff Prediction: Who Will Win Lightning vs. Hurricanes?

• Regular Season
• Playoffs

Lightning Team Leaders

TB

Points	Brayden Point 48
+ / -	Barclay Goodrow 16
Shots	Victor Hedman 136
Penalty Mins	Pat Maroon 60
Wins	Andrei Vasilevskiy 31
GAA	Andrei Vasilevskiy 2.21

CAR

Points	Sebastian Aho 57
+ / -	Martin Necas 25
Shots	Dougie Hamilton 180
Penalty Mins	Andrei Svechnikov 44
Wins	Alex Nedeljkovic 15
GAA	Alex Nedeljkovic 1.9

TB

Points	Nikita Kucherov 32
+ / -	Ryan McDonagh 18
Shots	Nikita Kucherov 62
Penalty Mins	Pat Maroon 37
Wins	Andrei Vasilevskiy 16
GAA	Andrei Vasilevskiy 1.9

CAR

Points	Sebastian Aho 11
+ / -	Jaccob Slavin 8
Shots	Dougie Hamilton 55
Penalty Mins	Andrei Svechnikov 14
Wins	Alex Nedeljkovic 4
GAA	Alex Nedeljkovic 2.17

• Regular Season
• Playoffs

Hurricanes Team Leaders

TB

Points	Brayden Point 48
+ / -	Barclay Goodrow 16
Shots	Victor Hedman 136
Penalty Mins	Pat Maroon 60
Wins	Andrei Vasilevskiy 31
GAA	Andrei Vasilevskiy 2.21

CAR

Points	Sebastian Aho 57
+ / -	Martin Necas 25
Shots	Dougie Hamilton 180
Penalty Mins	Andrei Svechnikov 44
Wins	Alex Nedeljkovic 15
GAA	Alex Nedeljkovic 1.9

TB

Points	Nikita Kucherov 32
+ / -	Ryan McDonagh 18
Shots	Nikita Kucherov 62
Penalty Mins	Pat Maroon 37
Wins	Andrei Vasilevskiy 16
GAA	Andrei Vasilevskiy 1.9

CAR

Points	Sebastian Aho 11
+ / -	Jaccob Slavin 8
Shots	Dougie Hamilton 55
Penalty Mins	Andrei Svechnikov 14
Wins	Alex Nedeljkovic 4
GAA	Alex Nedeljkovic 2.17

Injuries

Tampa Bay

Tyler Johnson (C)

Prob Fri Undisclosed - 02 / 07 / 21

Ross Colton (C)

Prob Fri Undisclosed - 02 / 07 / 21

Alex Killorn (LW)

Ques Fri Foot - 29 / 06 / 21

Nikita Kucherov (RW)

Ques Fri Upper Body - 23 / 06 / 21

Jan Rutta (D)

Prob Wed Undisclosed - 22 / 06 / 21

Erik Cernak (D)

Ques Fri Upper Body - 21 / 06 / 21

Anthony Cirelli (C)

Prob Thurs Undisclosed - 16 / 06 / 21

Erik Cernak (D)

Ques Tues Undisclosed - 31 / 05 / 21

David Savard (D)

Ques Sat Upper Body - 30 / 05 / 21

Nikita Kucherov (RW)

Ques Mon Leg - 22 / 05 / 21

Carolina

Warren Foegele (LW)

Ques Thurs Upper Body - 07 / 06 / 21

Warren Foegele (LW)

Ques Sat Upper Body - 04 / 06 / 21

Vincent Trocheck (C)

Ques Tues Lower Body - 02 / 06 / 21

Nino Niederreiter (RW)

Ques Tues Upper Body - 30 / 05 / 21

Jaccob Slavin (D)

Ques Tues Lower Body - 21 / 05 / 21

Dougie Hamilton (D)

Ques Mon Undisclosed - 10 / 05 / 21

Brett Pesce (D)

Ques Mon Undisclosed - 10 / 05 / 21

Jordan Staal (C)

Ques Mon Undisclosed - 10 / 05 / 21

Andrei Svechnikov (RW)

Ques Mon Undisclosed - 10 / 05 / 21

Jaccob Slavin (D)

Ques Mon Lower Body - 08 / 05 / 21

Injuries

Tampa Bay

player (position)	status		ats*current	o/u*	notes
Tyler Johnson (C)	Prob Fri	Undisclosed - 02 / 07 / 21	2-1	1-1-1	+ -
Johnson is dealing with an undefined issue, but he is expected to lace up versus the Canadiens in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Ross Colton (C)	Prob Fri	Undisclosed - 02 / 07 / 21	2-1	1-1-1	+ -
Colton is projected to face the Canadiens in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals despite an unspecified ailment.
Alex Killorn (LW)	Ques Fri	Foot - 29 / 06 / 21	3-1	2-1-1	+ -
Killorn is bothered by a foot injury, and it has yet to be established if he will suit up for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Canadiens.
Nikita Kucherov (RW)	Ques Fri	Upper Body - 23 / 06 / 21	4-3	3-2-2	+ -
Kucherov is bothered by an upper-body injury, and it is up in the air if he will lace up for Game 7 of the NHL semifinals versus the Islanders.
Jan Rutta (D)	Prob Wed	Undisclosed - 22 / 06 / 21	4-3	3-2-2	+ -
Rutta is bothered by an unspecified ailment, but it is anticipated that he will dress for Game 6 of the NHL semifinals versus the Islanders.
Erik Cernak (D)	Ques Fri	Upper Body - 21 / 06 / 21	4-4	3-2-3	+ -
Cernak is managing an upper-body injury, and it is uncertain if he will take on the Islanders in Game 7 of the NHL semifinals.
Anthony Cirelli (C)	Prob Thurs	Undisclosed - 16 / 06 / 21	5-5	4-3-3	+ -
Cirelli is managing an unspecified ailment, but it is expected that he will be available for Game 3 of the NHL semifinals versus the Islanders.
Erik Cernak (D)	Ques Tues	Undisclosed - 31 / 05 / 21	9-7	5-8-3	+ -
Cernak is battling an undefined issue, and it is unclear if he will lace up for Game 2 of the Central Division finals versus the Hurricanes.
David Savard (D)	Ques Sat	Upper Body - 30 / 05 / 21	10-7	5-9-3	+ -
Savard is managing an upper-body injury, and it remains to be seen if he will take on the Hurricanes in Game 4 of the Central Division finals.
Nikita Kucherov (RW)	Ques Mon	Leg - 22 / 05 / 21	11-9	7-10-3	+ -
Kucherov is dealing with a left leg injury, and it has yet to be established if he will face the Panthers in Game 5 of the Central Division semifinals.

Carolina

player (position)	status		ats*current	o/u*	notes
Warren Foegele (LW)	Ques Thurs	Upper Body - 07 / 06 / 21	0-1	1-0	+ -
Foegele is managing an upper-body injury, and it is uncertain if he will participate in Game 6 of the Central Division finals against the Lightning.
Warren Foegele (LW)	Ques Sat	Upper Body - 04 / 06 / 21	1-1	1-1	+ -
Foegele is nursing an upper-body injury, and it has yet to be determined if he will suit up for Game 4 of the Central Division finals versus the Lightning.
Vincent Trocheck (C)	Ques Tues	Lower Body - 02 / 06 / 21	1-2	1-2	+ -
Trocheck is tending to a lower-body injury, and it remains to be seen if he will play in Game 5 of the Central Division finals against the Lightning.
Nino Niederreiter (RW)	Ques Tues	Upper Body - 30 / 05 / 21	1-4	2-3	+ -
Niederreiter is dealing with an upper-body injury, and it is undetermined if he will face the Lightning in Game 5 of the Central Division finals.
Jaccob Slavin (D)	Ques Tues	Lower Body - 21 / 05 / 21	2-7	4-5	+ -
Slavin is hindered by a lower-body injury, and it is undetermined if he will face the Predators in Game 5 of the Central Division semifinals.
Dougie Hamilton (D)	Ques Mon	Undisclosed - 10 / 05 / 21	3-9	5-7	+ -
Hamilton is dealing with an undisclosed issue, and it remains to be seen if he will be in the lineup for Game 1 of the Central Division semifinals versus the Predators.
Brett Pesce (D)	Ques Mon	Undisclosed - 10 / 05 / 21	3-9	5-7	+ -
Pesce is tending to an undisclosed issue, and it has yet to be determined if he will be active for Game 1 of the Central Division semifinals against the Predators.
Jordan Staal (C)	Ques Mon	Undisclosed - 10 / 05 / 21	3-9	5-7	+ -
Staal is hampered by an undisclosed issue, and it has yet to be established if he will be active against the Predators for the Game 1 of the Central Division semifinals.
Andrei Svechnikov (RW)	Ques Mon	Undisclosed - 10 / 05 / 21	3-9	5-7	+ -
Svechnikov is dealing with an undisclosed issue, and his status against the Predators for Game 1 of the Central Division semifinals is unclear.
Jaccob Slavin (D)	Ques Mon	Lower Body - 08 / 05 / 21	3-10	5-8	+ -
Slavin is bothered by a lower-body injury, and it is uncertain if he will take the ice for Game 1 of the Central Division semifinals versus the Predators.