by ldh2013 » Tue Jul 05, 2016 8:07 am
RALEIGH, N. .C. -- Mark Barberio can finally get a haircut. The Tampa Bay defenceman scored his first two career goals, and the Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-3 on Sunday to move into a tie for first place in the Atlantic Division. Barberio promised himself as a minor leaguer two years ago that he wouldnt cut his hair until he made it to the NHL and scored there. Now its time for those shoulder-length locks to come off. "I was just going to let it grow, and I think its gotten a little too long," Barberio said. "Its got to go, though," he added. "I made a promise." Ondrej Palat had a goal and two assists, and he and Barberio scored 1:23 apart during the Lightnings three-goal first period that also included a goal from Nikita Kucherov. Teddy Purcell also scored to help the Lightning pull even with Boston atop the division. Ben Bishop made a career-high 48 saves for Tampa Bay. He shut out the Hurricanes in his only other two appearances in Raleigh, including a 3-0 victory on Nov. 1. "Im sure they were frustrated," Bishop said, "but thats what youre supposed to do." Alexander Semin, Eric Staal and Ron Hainsey each scored after Carolina fell behind 4-0. "A lot of what we wanted to do was throw pucks at the net, attack," Staal said. "All those goals that can deflate you, they capitalized on. We didnt sulk or cry. We continued to work and compete and had a lot of other chances and fought hard to try to get back into it. Just was a little too big of a hill to climb." Justin Peters gave up three goals on seven shots and exited with 4:53 left in the first. Anton Khudobin finished it by making 15 saves for the Hurricanes, who have lost three of four since a season-best five-game winning streak. They made this one interesting midway through the second, with Semin and Staal scoring 3:54 apart to cut their four-goal deficit in half. But Barberio followed with his second goal, a one-timer that beat Khudobin with 11:48 left in the second to put Tampa Bay up 5-2. Hainsey pulled the Hurricanes back within two goals by ripping a rebound past Bishop with 13:46 left in the third, but Bishop held off the Hurricanes the rest of the game. "It felt like we were coming back on the attack," Staal said. "And then they turned around and took the momentum back with a goal." The Lightning continued their dominance of their former Southeast Division rivals, sweeping the three-game season series while winning their seventh in eight meetings and sixth in a row in Raleigh. "I dont think we had our best game tonight," Barberio said. "Carolina was really on top of us, as you can see from the shot total. But sometimes you need your goalie to come up big, and (Bishop) did it again." And that three-goal first certainly helped. Tampa Bay, which entered having scored a power-play goal in four straight games, wasted little time extending that streak to five by converting their first chance at 6:09. With Riley Nash in the box for tripping, Barberio slipped through the back door, took a pretty backhand, cross-net feed from Ryan Malone and pushed the puck past Peters for his first goal. "I just had to throw it in the net," Barberio said. Palat made it 2-0 by beating Peters with a one-timer on a rush at 7:32, and Kucherov sent Peters to the showers at 15:07 when he put a wrist shot past him. NOTES: Carolina defencemen Justin Faulk and Andrej Sekera were on the ice for all five Lightning goals. ... Tampa Bay RW Martin St. Louis, who assisted on Palats goal, extended his point streak to eight games. ... Carolina C Manny Malhotra skated in his 900th career game. . Ricciardos exclusion from the results tarnished what had been a day of celebration for local fans, who were jubilant that the Red Bull driver had apparently become the first Australian to finish on the podium at his home race. However just before midnight, stewards ruled that Ricciardos car had "exceeded consistently the maximum allowed fuel flow" and that the team refused an instruction from the races technical delegate Charlie Whiting to change the fuel-flow sensor before the race and a further request during the race to reduce the fuel flow. . Hes the same player he always was, only now his efforts are being rewarded. The rookie manager has made a habit of heaping praise on others when things are going well, and accepting criticism when they arent. But in the case of Hurtado, its what the coach is NOT saying that may be the secret to a superb run of form. . Hes the same player he always was, only now his efforts are being rewarded. The rookie manager has made a habit of heaping praise on others when things are going well, and accepting criticism when they arent. But in the case of Hurtado, its what the coach is NOT saying that may be the secret to a superb run of form.TORONTO -- The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed forwards Mike Santorelli and Petri Kontiola to one-year contracts. Santorellis deal is worth US$1.5 million, according to a league source. The 28-year-old spent last season with the Vancouver Canucks. The Leafs also announced the re-signing of forward Troy Bodie to a one-year deal on Thursday. Kontiola will reportedly make $1.1 million. His agent, Mark Gandler, confirmed the one-year contract and said the Finnish centre had to pay 20 million Russian rubles -- roughly C$620,297 -- to get out of the final season of his KHL deal. Coupled with Tuesdays signing of Finn Leo Komarov, the Leafs retooled at forward after letting Mason&nnbsp;Raymond, Dave Bolland and Jay McClement leave in free agency. . Komarov returned to Toronto after a year in the KHL. Gandler said Kontiola was pencilled in as the Leafs No. 3 centre. Santorelli could also fill that role or replace McClement on the fourth line. Santorelli, 28, had an impressive 10 goals and 18 assists in 49 games for Vancouver before a shoulder injury derailed his season. Kontiola, 29, spent the last five seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League. Before that he played 12 games for the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2007-08 season, recording five assists. He helped Finland win a bronze medal at the Sochi Olympics with five points in six games. ' ' '
