Lightning snap 4-game home losing skid with comeback win over Hurricanes

Eduardo A. Encina, Tampa Bay Times on Dec 20, 2025

Published in Hockey

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TAMPA, Fla. — For the third time in their last four games, the Lightning on Saturday fell into a multi-goal hole early, heading to the first intermission trailing the Hurricanes by three goals.

Whatever was said in the dressing room between periods worked, as Tampa Bay rallied with three second-period goals to tie the score and grab momentum in an eventual 6-4 win.

Going into the game, the Lightning had struggled to establish home-ice advantage. Frankly, they hadn’t given the crowd much to get excited about in losing four straight at Benchmark International Arena.

But they electrified the crowd in the second period, scoring twice in the first 80 seconds, pressuring the Hurricanes throughout and eventually tying the game on rookie Jack Finley’s second NHL goal with 3:24 left in the period.

And though it took nearly 47 minutes for the Lightning to take their first lead, Jake Guentzel’s goal 6:38 into the third completed their comeback from one of their worst starts of the season.

Guentzel added an empty-net goal with 26.3 seconds left to seal the win, snapping their four-game home losing streak.

Finley was playing his first game since returning from a conditioning assignment at AHL Syracuse, where he played three games, played top-six minutes and was on the power play and penalty kill.

Defenseman Darren Raddysh poked the puck away from Andrei Svechnikov at the Lightning blue line, and Yanni Gourde pushed it forward to Dominc James, creating a 2-on-0 breakaway with Finley. Finley’s initial shot was stopped by goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov, but he tucked the rebound past Kochetkov’s left pad.

James also had the primary assist on Gage Goncalves’ goal 30 seconds into the second period, threading a pass to Goncalves in front of the paint from the right post. Brayden Point then redirected a puck off the stick of Charle-Edouard D’Astous at 1:20.

The Lightning fell behind again early in the third, as a J.J. Moser turnover in the middle of the ice led to a 2-on-1 that Svechnikov finished to give Carolina a 4-3 lead 2:47 into the period. But Ryan McDonagh scored 26 seconds later, parting two Carolina skaters and tucking the puck under Kochetkov.

The Lightning played what might have been one of their worst first periods of the season. Raddysh’s pass out of the Lightning zone through the middle of the ice was picked off by Jordan Staal at the blue line, and he found Eric Robinson for a one-timer from the right circle that opened the scoring 2:42 into the game.

Tampa Bay then gave Carolina 6:25 of man-advantage time, and the Hurricanes capitalized with two power-play goals. Jackson Blake scored after Declan Carlile was called for holding. After Finley was whistled for a high-sticking double minor, Bradley Nadeau gave Carolina a 3-0 lead with 6:32 left in the period.