The Carolina Hurricanes got back on the ice after being sidelined by the COVID19 protocols set up by the NHL.
They needed those rested legs.
“Five-on-five is hard, then when you get those specialty times, you need those special players,” Hurricanes coach head Rod Brind’Amour said. “We’ve got a couple. [Necas is] starting to emerge. He definitely stepped up.”
On Thursday night, the Canes went to extra time with the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 1-0 win.
“Give them credit, they did a good job possessing it,” the Lightning’s Brayden Point said. “They got some fresh guys out and took advantage of a tired group. Sometimes that happens.”
Martin Necas ended the night’s festivities with the overtime strike at 1:12 of the extra session.
The win pushed the Canes to 3-1-1. 
“It felt like the start of the season all over again,” Carolina’s Jordan Staal said. “It was a weird feeling going into the game. [Brind’Amour] a good job of making sure we were on the attack to get after them right away.”
Petr Mrazek made 31 saves to get the win.
“We knew we needed all 20 guys to contribute in some form or fashion, and I thought that’s what happened tonight,” Brind’Amour said. “[Tampa Bay] made some great plays, and [Mrazek] came up big. I expected more rust, to be honest with you, so I’m pretty happy with everything.”
The Bolts dropped to 3-1-1.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 35 saves in the loss.
“We didn’t play with pace in the first period,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “We were just holding on to pucks too long. We made some little adjustments in the second period of things we had to do, and I thought it was a pretty even game after that.”
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