Zach Hyman scored three goals for his second hat trick of the season, Connor McDavid had three assists, and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-1 on Wednesday night for their fifth straight win. Please click here for more.

Laurent Brossoit made a season-high 42 saves for the Winnipeg Jets in a 2-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at Canada Life Centre on Monday night. Please click here for more.

Sebastian Aho scored two goals and the Carolina Hurricanes cruised to a 6-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night. Pyotr Kochetkov, playing for the fourth game in a row, made 20 saves despite losing his shutout bid in the third period. Please click here for more.

Despite outshooting the New York Islanders 43-16, the Carolina Hurricanes suffered a 5-4 overtime loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday. However, a point in the standings could make all the difference at the end of the season. Please click here for more.

Michael Bunting had a goal and an assist, and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 on Tuesday night. Seth Jarvis and Brendan Lemieux also scored as the Hurricanes won for the fourth time in five games. Please click here for more.

Andrei Svechnikov scored his first goal of the season with 1:55 left for the Carolina Hurricanes’ third goal in an 8:04 span in a 3-2 comeback victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday. Please click here for more.

BY CHIP ALEXANDER
News & Observer

The “Big Cat” was back Friday for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy played his first game since April as the Russian finally returned to the Lightning lineup following back surgery. If it was big news in the NHL, — and it was — one had to wonder if it would be bad news for the Carolina Hurricanes. It was.

Tampa Bay took an 8-2 victory at PNC Arena, scoring three times on the power play in the second period and keeping the lead as Vasilevskiy stopped 22 of 24 shots and was solid enough. Canes goalie Antti Raanta had won a franchise-record 14 consecutive home games, but that streak came to an end in the third and last game of the season series — Tampa Bay (10-6-5) winning two of three.

Tampa Bay had just 14 shots Friday — one in the first period — but made the 14 count. Brayden Point had a hat trick and two assists and Nikita Kucherov, playing as well as anyone in the league, finished with two goals and four assists. Kucherov did not play in the Canes’ win Nov. 11 in Tampa, but was at his deadly best Friday.

The Canes (11-8-0) also have dealt with some goaltending drama. Frederik Andersen is sidelined indefinitely with a blood-clotting issue and Raanta left Wednesday’s game against Edmonton after the first period with what was deemed a lower-body issue. Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said after the 6-3 win over the Oilers that Raanta’s removal was a precautionary move. Come Friday, Raanta was in the starter’s crease at the morning skate at PNC Arena, good to go.

Vasilevskiy, activated off injured reserve, drew a lot of eyes when he took the net for the Lightning’s morning skate.

As Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said, Vasilesvkiy has taken the Lightning to “the peak of the mountain” — Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021 — and the former Vezina Trophy winner is one of the “cornerstones” of the organization. “I know he’s eager. There’s a ton of work that’s gone into this,” Cooper said. “In total Vasilevskiy style he’s worked his tail off. He’s ready.”

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Sports have the power to inspire change and do good in the lives of the people who play and take part in them. It’s why Carolina Hurricanes star defenseman Jaccob Slavin is using his platform to help the 50 million people who are held in some form of modern slavery through human trafficking. Please click for more.

Seth Jarvis broke a tie with 8:08 remaining with his first goal in six games and then added an empty-net, power-play tally as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 on Saturday night. Please click here for more.

After a 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers that saw the Hurricanes generate a ton of chances they didn’t finish and an equal number of breakdowns the Flyers did convert, Jordan Staal said it’s time for the Hurricanes — 9-7-0 to start the season after losing for the first time at home — to get their act together and get back to being, for lack of a better word, themselves. Please click here for more.