In Raleigh, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves in his season debut for the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday in an 8-2 thumping of the Hurricanes. 
“The guys played unbelievably in front of me,” Vasilevskiy said. “Just lots of blocked shots (18), obviously the goal support. Just remarkable. Couldn’t be more perfect for the first game.
“Still really hard on my body. Obviously, the game is much harder than practice, but the first one is [over] and just moving on.”
Tampa improved to 10-6-5.
“He’s one of the best players on our team, if not the best,” Tampa cach Jon Cooper said. “It’s a momentum swing when you get to have your full arsenal. When you have the guys you’re used to having, it definitely helps. I think the guys really dug in for him tonight.”
Nikita Kucherov scored a pair of goals for the Lightning and added four assists.
“The power play executed well (4-for-5), and that gave us momentum. I thought we played better as the game went on,” Kucherov said. “You’re just trying to play the right way and follow the game plan.”
Brayden Point hit for a hat trick and five points in the win.
Tampa scored three in the middle frame, and five unanswered goals in the third.
Brandon Hagel had a goal and two assists
Carolina took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a marker from Stefan Noesen at 18:12.
“Perfect first period. We do exactly what we wanted to do and then we took three poor penalties, and that’s what they do,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “They sit and wait for that, and they made us pay tonight.”
The Hurricanes dropped to 11-8-0.
Steven Stamkos scored early in the middle frame to tie the game, 1-1, Kucherov put the Lighting ahead, 2-1, at 5:40 off the power play.
“It’s one guy (Kucherov), clearly,” Brind’Amour said. “For sure, they have other guys, but it’s clearly that one. Everyone knows it’s getting there, and they do a great job of getting him the puck.”
Fourteen seconds later Point hit for his goal for a 3-1 lead.
The Canes got one back, also off the power play, from Michael Bunting at 14:45 for a 3-2 score.
“We didn’t really give them anything,” Cooper said. “Eventually, I knew we were going to get our looks, and our special teams were outstanding. That was the game.”
From there the Lightning piled on in the third period, with Point getting his hat trick, Kucherov picking up the double, Hagel scoring his marker, and Luke Glendening all scoring for Tampa.
“The game just gets a little slower and you start making crisp plays,” Point said. “Tonight, in the second half of the second (period) and in the third, we were doing that. We were making passes on the tape and using our speed.”
Antti Raanta faced 14 shots in the game and surrendered all eight goals in the loss.
It was the first time in NHL history (for data collected on shots and saves) that a goalie stopped less than 50 percent of the shots faced.
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