Andersen, Canes shutout punchless Lightning, 6-0

In Raleigh on Sunday, the Tampa Bay Lightning were outshot by the Hurricanes 23-4 through the first 40 minutes of play .

That included no shots on goal in the second period.

Frederik Andersen made 14 saves for his first shutout of the season.

He may as well have set up a beer station behind the net for the middle frame for all the work he had to do.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi had a goal and five points on the afternoon.

“Not bad,” Kotkaniemi said. “The team had a hell of a night, and a couple points is a nice plus.”

Teuvo Teravainen picked up a hat trick in the Hurricanes hat trick

“I think it helps the guys feel good about themselves,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “You want to have some confidence. We’ve had a lot of games this year where we put a lot of action at the net but didn’t score. Especially against these guys, generally, we don’t get a lot because their goalie is the difference. So, it’s nice to see us get a few.”

Carolina moved to 41-12-8.

Andrei Svechnikov and Teravainen scored in the first period for a 2-0 lead to the Canes.

“I feel like sometimes it takes a little time for me to get going and get my confidence,” Teravainen said. “I always feel like I can play better.”

The Hurricanes scored twice in each period.

Teravainen and Shayne Gostisbehere scored in the second period to balloon the lead to 4-0.

“They told me my role, they were honest with me from Day One,” Gostisbehere said. “That’s what I focus on. I’m just happy to get on board this train and hopefully keep it rolling.”

The Lightning dropped to 37-21-5 on their fifth straight loss.

“We’re in a rut right now, and at some point you’ve just got to work your way out of it,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “Guys have got routines. They’re used to making plays, and when that’s off a bit, guys start questioning themselves.

“We’re just not executing right now, so it’s slowing our game down. As coaches, we’ve got to instill some confidence in these guys. We’ve got a veteran group in there, so we’ll be all right.”

The question is who will Cooper bench this time.

“No one is happy about what’s gone on here in the last little bit,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. “When things start to go wrong, it can get in your head a little bit. We’ve been in this skid for a while now and we’ve got to work ourselves out of it as players and coaches. I think people forget we’ve lost some good players, we’ve had some young guys come up.

“It’s a different group, and you have to figure out the identity of that group. Just because you’ve had success in years past doesn’t automatically translate to, we’re just looking to the Stanley Cup Final again because we’ve been there three straight times. Mental fortitude is part of it, the ability to rely on past experience is part of it. There’s so many things that need to come together.”