TAMPA, Fla. — Jake Guentzel scored a pair of third period goals and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied past the Carolina Hurricanes for a 6-4 victory on Saturday night.
Gage Goncalves, Brayden Point and Jack Finley all scored second-period goals for Tampa Bay. Ryan McDonagh also scored, and Dominic James and Charle-Edouard D’Astous each had two assists.
Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 18 saves. Tampa Bay snapped a four-game home losing streak while picking up just its third win in the past 10 games overall.
Eric Robinson, Jackson Blake and Bradly Nadeau, called up earlier in the day, scored in the first period for Carolina. Andrei Svechnikov also scored for Carolina, and Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 23 shots.
Carolina failed to hold a three-goal lead for the second consecutive night and lost in regulation for the first time in seven games.
Guentzel scored the winning goal sitting on top of the crease to poke in a rebound of J.J. Moser’s point shot at 6:38 of the third period. Guentzel added an empty-net goal to cap off the scoring with 27 seconds left.
Robinson scored on a one-timer feed from Jordan Staal 2:42 into the game and Blake tipped a Nikolaj Ehlers pass for a power-play goal at 4:00. Nadeau scored another power-play goal at 12:27 for a 3-0 lead.
Tampa Bay Lightning center Dominic James (17) gets knocked down by Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Mike Reilly (6) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. Credit: AP/Chris O’Meara
Goncalves scored 30 seconds into the second period and Point made it 3-2 at 1:20. Finley tied the game getting his own rebound off a breakaway chance at 16:36.
Svechnikov regained the lead for the Hurricanes 2:47 into the third but McDonagh answered 26 seconds later.
Carolina placed leading goal scorer Seth Jarvis on injured reserve before the game. He left Friday’s game against Florida when he was tripped up and crashed into the post.
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Tampa Bay Lightning center Jack Finley (62) scores past Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov (52) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. Credit: AP/Chris O’Meara
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