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As Thursday’s game was played, it felt as though it was one I had seen before. And I wasn’t the only one.
In the Carolina Hurricanes’ first game back from the 2026 Winter Olympics, they faced the Tampa Bay Lightning. Before the puck dropped, Olympians from both teams were honored. All players received standing ovations as their names were called out by the PA Announcer, Wade Minter, who sounded just as excited to list them.
Ahead of tonight's game in Raleigh, the Carolina Hurricanes honored their Olympians with a special ceremony
— Queen of the Puck (@rbarkleyhockey) February 27, 2026
They also honored the Tampa Bay Lightning's Medal winners#CarolinaCulture#GoBolts#NHLpic.twitter.com/hUPE57FKUW
The game was a true back-and-forth. The first period saw a three-goal scoring burst from the Hurricanes – with Logan Stankoven’s line in particular being especially noticeable – before the Lightning brought it within one.
The second period saw the Lightning tie things up, then the Hurricanes back ahead, and then a tie on the power play.
Those Florida teams are the Kryptonite of Carolina; they never say die and always give them one heck of a time. Luckily for the Hurricanes, though, Gage Goncalves made the mistake of tripping K’Andre Miller in the third period, which led to the game-winning power play goal from Sebastian Aho.
Same Start, Familiar Middle, Different Ending
The ending wasn’t the same, but it echoed their last game against the ‘Bolts’ eerily.
“The parallels are bonkers,” Bolts Breakdown posted within my thread on X.
I had thought the exact same thing.
December 20th’s game between the rival teams saw the same three-goal burst to start the game from the Hurricanes, and it saw the same three-goal burst to tie the game from the Lightning.
The pace was nearly identical.
However, the statistics at the end of the night were drastically different. In December’s game, the Lightning dominated the Hurricanes. But Thursday, Carolina managed to correct their play just a bit to keep things close to even.
The Hurricanes may not have been able to rewrite the previous game, but they penned a triumphant sequel.
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