NHL Highlights | Hurricanes vs. Lightning – December 20, 2025

NHL Highlights | Hurricanes vs. Lightning – December 20, 2025

Here’s the good news for Bolts fans. After missing the last game due to illness, Nikita Kutrov is back. They’ve dropped a puck faceoff sponsored by Rooms to Go. And we are underway for the first of three meetings this season between is out. He’s missed a long stretch due to injury. Played last night, but he’s a scratch. And they’re missing their leading goal scorer, too. Here’s a chance. Sharen shot. They score. Eric Robinson blows one past Vasilki from a tough angle and it’s one- nothing Carolina. The >> Lightning produced two outstanding chances on the rush and come away with nothing. We’ve seen this movie before beside the net and it it just goes sideways right off the bat trying to spring forwards free. It’s not something you see from Darren Radish a whole lot, but he’s the one that made the pass and there you see the result. >> Back to Spetchnikov. Speetchnikov drops it up. Goss is Bear goes across. They’ve got Aaho in the slot. Tip scores >> and that is Blake. Got a tip right at the side of the net. Jackson Blake with a power play goal and very quickly it is two nothing Carolina. That was Nikolai Elers with the shot pass. You don’t see this very often. Be off to the side. There’s 53. He’s going to move off to the side. Watch him make his stick available. And it’s a really slick move. I think he deflected that between his own skates. So for Vaselki, it’s difficult. He doesn’t see that. You’re not used to seeing it. I’m guessing he’s anticipating that Blake’s going to hold on to it for a second, but he uses the backhand redirection there and it catches Bessie. >> Carolina’s without their top goal scorer, Brian. Seth Jarvis was injured last night. He’s got 19 goals and he’s unavailable. He’s on the injured list >> and their number one defenseman is Slavven. >> Yeah. Here’s a shot. scores. A bouncing puck finding its way out front and it is 3 nothing Carolina. Another power play goal and they’re still on the power play. This one is Bradley Nadal, the 20year-old rookie all over the place. So they’re taking advantage of everything that happens. Puck along the wall goes behind the net. It’s bouncing a little bit and then all of a sudden it ends up in front of the net and look who’s there. Carolina. Not enough. Tampa Bay Lightning players and look at that. I mean they’re they’re just one touching it. Carolina made two good additions to their team. >> Final minute sponsored by Anna Jar Lavine. Pass across does it again. Big stop by Basilki on that. >> You have to fight through it and find a way. >> Second face off sponsored by Rooms to Go. Carolina dumps it right back in the Lightning zone here. Trying to get right back to work. Pick up where they left off. sent back to the line for Shawn Walker. Walker shot blockered aside by Vaselki. Thrown back out in front and this one’s going to be cleared up ahead to Gonzalz. He’ll get to center ice and wire one in. Robinson a chop to that. Held to the line shot comes right back to Croer. He’ll feed it down low. Set it out in front. They score. Gonzal 30 seconds in the period and they’re on the board. zone and let’s go. Let’s accomplish something. Get it down the wall. Get a puck retrieval and then get the puck into the paint. Really nice job here by Dominic James. James will control the puck for a second and make it look like he’s going to go behind the net, but then Gonzalez and you have two guys in front of the net. You had Finley there as well, too. So, you got a fourthline group that started the period and they come up with a >> all night long. Remember Carolina had that loss last night. Here’s Coutra carving his way to the middle. Picked up in the line. Stepping in is Du. Scores. Du 32. Tipped in front by Braden Points. And D2. D2 at the point going to take his time. And did he ever? He walked all the way down to the top of the circle and Carolina just seemed to split apart and Braden Point gets a stick down in front of the net, gets a a look at it. I think that might even have touched Yanni Gourd on the way here, too. Look where Stew is. He’d make it up his mind. Do I want to shoot top shelf or Cerelli in the slot? Here’s Radish up top. They work it down low. Walks out across point. Radish shoots and he just missed. Top corner. Grdish with a terrific stick. >> Nine seconds in the power play. They’re back inside. Here’s point in shot and that’s tipped just wide and just gets it outside the line. Picked up again over the far side over to Homer. Shot glove saved by Coach. Rapper. Oh, how does that not go in? Couple big ones here for Carolina Coachkov. Not that one, but watch this one. The wraparound. Celli can’t get any farther out around the net. He’ll get another better look here. He can’t get his body that one more step cuz he’s being knocked down. >> Face off to the left of Cochkov by the way. Oh, this one’s knocked down. HERE’S POINT DOWN LOW. SAVE COCHET ON COV. >> Cochet has been very good in this game. He hasn’t had much chance. A big time turnover. Look at that guy. Look where he is. >> That says a lot about them in the game they played so far. turned over and now it’s a break up ahead. Finally in stop reb ties the game. How fitting is that? They turn the puck over in the neutral zone. Care breakaway almost. They have a partial line change. Finley goes in all alone from the blue line. doesn’t score on the initial shot. I think I like this even more by the fact that he didn’t score on the first one. He didn’t give up, but he stayed with it. Concentration all the way along. Coachette makes the first really big save here, but Finley’s right there. Comes right to his stick. He could have booted that 3-3 third period face out sponsored by Rooms to Go. Buckle up. Could be in for a great finish here tonight. Birdman steps around back doors it to Gourd. Gourd slides it back to Cutra. Coutra back up off the stick of Duke and it’s picked up by Mark Janowski. He’ll just bank it up and out. Quickly move back up. A turned over and look out. Here’s a break. This is Jenowski in. Drops it off. They score. Svetchnikov tucks it home. Lightning turned it over and Carolina makes them pay and they retake the lead. Lightning get caught with four guys up the ice and only one guy back. Desperation not quite enough. Vasileki does what he has to do. Moser with kind of a a blind pass there. He thought it was going to connect. It didn’t. He’s struggling to get back, but Vassie has to go left, right, and try to get back to his left again. >> Lightning really got to get back to that urgency level that they brought to open up the second period. They shot Carolina 14-6 in that second. And here’s a break. Stepping up. Mcdana scores. The M track drives right through and ties the game prior to this game. Well, Mack jumps up on the play and Jaden Jaylen Chatfield is left standing still at the blue line. I think Mcdana did it so quickly he stunned everybody in the neutral zone wearing a white jersey. Chatfield thinks, “Okay, I’ve got Mcdana coming at me. I got nowhere to go.” He had no speed at all. A beautiful setup there. Kind of a reverse play when you see a player going backwards. Now he’s got some room. Gets it away to Radish. Radish up through center. Carries this one in over the blue line. Radish and in the middle reaching forward is Paul. Oh, pumps got this bear. Works this one back to the point. Moser in there. Keno soft rebound scores. Jake Gensel and the lightning have come all the way back. >> This time the obvious place to be was in front of the net. Carolina leaves the front of the net for a moment. They don’t recover all the way and get to Gensel and take them out of the play. Mike Riley had moved up. Riley’s the one to get back there, but he fishes it out from in between the pads. Nice work by Gensel and that shows the tenacity of the Lightning ever since the second period. They are on it. They are pushing and they score. Back to the points. Nikes turned a pass near side for Nadle. The rookie banks it back. QUICK DRIVE BY Smith and a save. Carolina does keep it deep. Back into the corner. The try to center. Can harder on the board. Gel takes a look. Shoots. Scores. Empty net and goes. Shel 64. Get the puck in the corner along the wall. Gensel’s in good position. He doesn’t miss. What a hockey game this has been. >> The range of emotions. >> You talk about emotions, Brian. Well, the Lightning were angry and embarrassed in the first period, but they come all the way back down three goals. They win this one on home ice. 6-4 final.

Jake Guentzel found the back of the net twice, Ryan McDonagh had two points and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 18 saves to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning over the Carolina Hurricanes 6-4.
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00:00:00 – 1st Regulation Period
00:02:36 – 2nd Regulation Period
00:06:26 – 3rd Regulation Period