NHL-Schedules.com

Carolina Hurricanes at Tampa Bay Lightning

Benchmark International Arena, Tampa Regular Season Final

Final score

The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6–4 on Saturday, December 20, 2025 at home.

Team Goals 2025-2026 record
Carolina Hurricanes 4 53-22-7
at Tampa Bay Lightning 6 50-26-6

Goals by period

Team Total
Carolina Hurricanes 3 0 1 4
Tampa Bay Lightning 0 3 3 6

Shots on goal by period

Team Total
Carolina Hurricanes 10 6 6 22
Tampa Bay Lightning 6 14 9 29

Three stars

  1. J. Guentzel, Tampa Bay Lightning (2 goals)
  2. D. James, Tampa Bay Lightning (2 assists)
  3. Y. Gourde, Tampa Bay Lightning (1 assist)

Scoring summary

Period Time Team Goal Assists Type Score
1st 02:42 Carolina Hurricanes Eric Robinson (7) Jordan Staal (5) Even strength CAR 1, TBL 0
1st 04:00 Carolina Hurricanes Jackson Blake (10) Nikolaj Ehlers (16), Shayne Gostisbehere (23) Power play CAR 2, TBL 0
1st 12:27 Carolina Hurricanes Bradly Nadeau (2) Logan Stankoven (10) Power play CAR 3, TBL 0
2nd 00:30 Tampa Bay Lightning Gage Goncalves (3) Dominic James (4), Max Crozier (5) Even strength CAR 3, TBL 1
2nd 01:20 Tampa Bay Lightning Brayden Point (6) Charle-Edouard D'Astous (7), Nikita Kucherov (30) Even strength CAR 3, TBL 2
2nd 16:36 Tampa Bay Lightning Jack Finley (2) Dominic James (5), Yanni Gourde (7) Even strength CAR 3, TBL 3
3rd 02:47 Carolina Hurricanes Andrei Svechnikov (8) Mark Jankowski (4), Jesperi Kotkaniemi (4) Even strength CAR 4, TBL 3
3rd 03:13 Tampa Bay Lightning Ryan McDonagh (4) Pontus Holmberg (6), Charle-Edouard D'Astous (8) Even strength CAR 4, TBL 4
3rd 06:38 Tampa Bay Lightning Jake Guentzel (16) J.J. Moser (9), Nick Paul (5) Even strength CAR 4, TBL 5
3rd 19:33 Tampa Bay Lightning Jake Guentzel (17) Ryan McDonagh (4) Even strength, Empty net CAR 4, TBL 6

Numbers in brackets are the player's season totals after the goal.

Team stats

Stat Carolina Hurricanes Tampa Bay Lightning
Shots on goal 22 29
Power play 2 of 5 0 of 3
Penalty minutes 10 14
Hits 23 19
Blocked shots 15 15
Giveaways 13 14
Takeaways 6 1
Faceoffs won 22/52 (42.3%) 30/52 (57.7%)

Box score

Carolina Hurricanes

Carolina Hurricanes skaters
Player
11 J. Staal C 0 1 1 -1 0 0 4 1 0 38.9% 15:08
20 S. Aho C 0 0 0 -3 0 1 1 0 0 33.3% 21:19
22 L. Stankoven C 0 1 1 -1 0 2 0 0 0 50% 16:22
27 N. Ehlers L 0 1 1 -3 0 1 0 2 0 19:36
28 W. Carrier L 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 09:50
29 B. Nadeau L 1 0 1 -2 0 4 4 0 1 13:06
37 A. Svechnikov R 1 0 1 -1 4 2 2 0 0 18:12
50 E. Robinson L 1 0 1 0 0 3 1 0 0 13:50
53 J. Blake R 1 0 1 -3 0 1 0 0 1 19:25
71 T. Hall L 0 0 0 -2 0 2 0 3 0 15:52
77 M. Jankowski L 0 1 1 +1 2 0 1 0 0 54.5% 10:55
82 J. Kotkaniemi C 0 1 1 +1 4 0 1 0 0 10:06
4 S. Gostisbehere D 0 1 1 -2 0 1 0 1 0 18:11
5 J. Chatfield D 0 0 0 -2 0 1 0 1 0 19:59
6 M. Reilly D 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 1 0 13:45
19 K. Miller D 0 0 0 -1 0 1 2 2 0 21:28
21 A. Nikishin D 0 0 0 +1 0 0 2 2 0 19:45
26 S. Walker D 0 0 0 -1 0 3 2 0 0 18:05
Carolina Hurricanes goalies
Goalie
52 P. Kochetkov 28 23 5 .821 59:06 Loss

Tampa Bay Lightning

Tampa Bay Lightning skaters
Player
17 D. James C 0 2 2 +2 0 0 0 0 0 50% 10:44
20 N. Paul L 0 1 1 0 2 1 2 2 0 66.7% 12:50
21 B. Point C 1 0 1 0 0 3 0 1 0 33.3% 18:25
22 O. Bjorkstrand R 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 13:01
28 Z. Girgensons C 0 0 0 +1 2 1 3 0 0 13:44
29 P. Holmberg R 0 1 1 +1 0 2 0 0 0 12:26
37 Y. Gourde C 0 1 1 +1 0 2 1 1 0 50% 16:13
59 J. Guentzel C 2 0 2 +1 0 5 1 1 0 19:19
62 J. Finley C 1 0 1 +2 4 2 1 0 0 33.3% 08:19
71 A. Cirelli C 0 0 0 +2 0 1 2 1 0 68.4% 22:30
86 N. Kucherov R 0 1 1 +1 0 2 0 1 0 19:25
93 G. Goncalves C 1 0 1 +1 0 1 1 1 0 10:18
24 M. Crozier D 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 16:42
27 R. McDonagh D 1 1 2 +3 0 1 1 0 0 19:34
43 D. Raddysh D 0 0 0 +1 2 3 1 0 0 23:06
51 C. D'Astous D 0 2 2 +2 0 0 1 1 0 16:42
67 D. Carlile D 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 2 0 15:22
90 J. Moser D 0 1 1 +2 0 4 3 3 0 22:55
Tampa Bay Lightning goalies
Goalie
88 A. Vasilevskiy 22 18 4 .818 60:00 Win

Penalties

Period Time Team Player Infraction Minutes
1st 03:27 Tampa Bay Lightning Declan Carlile Holding 2
1st 06:00 Carolina Hurricanes Andrei Svechnikov Interference 2
1st 10:35 Tampa Bay Lightning Jack Finley High sticking double minor 4
1st 14:36 Tampa Bay Lightning Zemgus Girgensons High sticking 2
2nd 02:07 Tampa Bay Lightning Nick Paul Roughing 2
2nd 02:07 Carolina Hurricanes Mark Jankowski Roughing 2
2nd 02:07 Carolina Hurricanes Jesperi Kotkaniemi Roughing 2
2nd 02:07 Tampa Bay Lightning Declan Carlile Roughing 2
2nd 02:07 Carolina Hurricanes Jesperi Kotkaniemi Roughing 2
2nd 18:07 Tampa Bay Lightning Darren Raddysh Roughing 2
3rd 14:32 Carolina Hurricanes Andrei Svechnikov Tripping 2

Game information

Carolina Hurricanes head coach
Rod Brind'Amour
Tampa Bay Lightning head coach
Jon Cooper
Referees
Garrett Rank, Justin Kea
Linesmen
Kyle Flemington, Jesse Marquis
Carolina Hurricanes scratches
Jordan Martinook, Jaccob Slavin, Brandon Bussi
Tampa Bay Lightning scratches
Curtis Douglas, Jakob Pelletier

2025-2026 season series

Matchup Status Details
Carolina Hurricanes 4 at Tampa Bay Lightning 6 Final Game page
Tampa Bay Lightning 4 at Carolina Hurricanes 5 Final Game page
Carolina Hurricanes 4 at Tampa Bay Lightning 2 Final Game page

Other NHL games on Dec 20

Matchup Status Details
Philadelphia Flyers 4 at New York Rangers 5 Final/SO Game page
Detroit Red Wings 5 at Washington Capitals 2 Final Game page
Chicago Blackhawks 4 at Ottawa Senators 6 Final Game page
Edmonton Oilers 2 at Minnesota Wild 5 Final Game page
New York Islanders 2 at Buffalo Sabres 3 Final/SO Game page
St. Louis Blues 6 at Florida Panthers 2 Final Game page
Vancouver Canucks 5 at Boston Bruins 4 Final/SO Game page
Pittsburgh Penguins 0 at Montreal Canadiens 4 Final Game page
Toronto Maple Leafs 3 at Nashville Predators 5 Final Game page
Vegas Golden Knights 3 at Calgary Flames 6 Final Game page
Columbus Blue Jackets 3 at Anaheim Ducks 4 Final Game page
Seattle Kraken 4 at San Jose Sharks 2 Final Game page

Sources and further reading

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