TAMPA Roman Josi Jersey , Fla. (AP) — The final score was much more important to Tyler Johnson than his fourth career hat trick.Johnson had three goals, Yanni Gourde scored on a power play to put Tampa Bay ahead and the Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Tuesday night.“I don’t think too much about hat tricks. I’m more excited we won,” Johnson said.Johnson scored in all three periods, completing his hat trick on an empty-netter with 1:56 remaining.“When he’s skating, it’s really game-changing for him,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “Boy, that kid was flying tonight.”Johnson also had a three-goal game against the Hurricanes last January.After Carolina defenseman Calvin de Haan fanned on a clearing attempt, Gourde made it 3-2 on a pass from Ondrej Palat at 7:02 of the third.Lightning backup Louis Domingue stopped 38 shots in his first start of the season. He made strong saves on Sebastian Aho and Micheal Ferland soon after Gourde’s goal.Ferland and Martin Necas had goals, and Petr Mrazek turned aside 23 shots for the Hurricanes.After starting 4-0-1, Carolina has lost consecutive games by two goals to Stanley Cup contenders Winnipeg and Tampa Bay.“We know that we can play with them,” coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “The difference is we have little, little margin. So, when you self-destruct on certain things, that’s going to come back to bite you against these great teams. That’s what the lesson is.”Aho picked up an assist to extend his season-opening point streak to seven games (eight assists http://www.officialpredators.com/authentic-adidas-ryan-hartman-jersey , 12 points), which is tied for third-longest in the history of the Carolina/Hartford franchise. Only Victor Rask (eight games, 2016-17) and Ron Francis (11 games, 1984-85) had longer runs.Tampa Bay is 17-2-2 against Carolina since the start of the 2012-13 season.Johnson picked up Tampa Bay’s second short-handed goal this season 12:42 into the game and put the Lightning up 2-1 at 6:07 of the second. The forward, who snapped a 10-game regular-season goal drought, has 11 goals and 19 points in 18 games against Carolina.Necas tied it 2-all with 7:12 left in the second on his first NHL goal, a one-timer from the left circle.Aho stole Victor Hedman’s clearing attempt and helped set up Ferland’s game-opening goal 10:25 into the first.The Lightning converted their only power play, while Carolina went 0 for 4. Tampa Bay is the only NHL team not to allow a power-play goal (18 for 18) this season.The Hurricanes are 2 for 25 with the man advantage overall, and have allowed eight goals on 22 short-handed situations.“As long as we don’t let the negative part of our special teams drift into our overall game, then we’re going to be all right,” Brind’Amour said.Carolina defenseman Dougie Hamilton had a game-high seven shots on goal. The line of Aho (four), Ferland (five) and Teuvo Teravainen (four) combined for 13.Tampa Bay star Steven Stamkos has gone 16 regular-season games without a goal, dating to last season. He had one shot in 16 minutes of play.NOTES: Domingue tweaked his neck playing basketball during a pregame workout but was cleared to play. . Carolina LW Brock McGinn was cut on the face early in the second on the follow-through of Stamkos’ shot attempt. … Mrazek was briefly shaken up in the second after being struck accidentally by Lightning RW Nikita Kucherov’s stick behind the net. … Mathieu Joseph got his first NHL point by assisting on Johnson’s short-handed goal.UP NEXTHurricanes: Host Colorado on Saturday night.Lightning: Wrap up a season-opening five-game homestand Thursday night against winless Detroit (0-4-2). NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) The Buffalo Sabres saw defenseman Victor Antipin taken off the ice on a stretcher after being boarded. Then Ryan Johansen Jersey , they took it out on the Nashville Predators by scoring three goals on the ensuing 5-minute major.”We were able to make them pay a little bit,” Buffalo center Sam Reinhart said.Reinhart had a hat trick with Jack Eichel adding a career-high five assists as the Sabres stunned the NHL-leading Predators 7-4 Saturday night.”It’s never easy to see a teammate get injured,” Eichel said. ”It was a good job by our team responding and putting it on the scoreboard where it counts.”The Predators needed a win and a regulation loss by Winnipeg to clinch their first Central Division title, and a loss by Vegas in any fashion for the defending Western Conference champs for their first conference banner in the regular season. But Winnipeg beat Toronto 3-1, and the Predators played a sloppy game giving up a season-high in goals to the NHL’s last-place team.Despite a league-worst 60 points, the Sabres outshot Nashville from the start and chased goalie Pekka Rinne after he gave up six goals on 29 shots through two periods.Jason Pominville and Ryan O’Reilly also scored for Buffalo, and Eichel tied a franchise single-game record with his assists.P.K. Subban, Austin Watson, Kyle Turris and Nick Bonino scored for Nashville.The Sabres took control with the three goals – two by Reinhart – during those 5 minutes after Antipin was boarded by Nashville forward Scott Hartnell behind the Buffalo net at 14:09 of the second. Antipin was strapped to a backboard and taken off the ice on a stretcher.”The guys rallied around Victor and made a point to come out, and that was the difference in the game,” Buffalo coach Phil Housley said.Reinhart tied it up at 4 just 55 seconds into the power play, and he put Buffalo ahead at 17:18 with his second goal. Kyle Okposo scored his second of the night at 19:00 for the big lead.”You’re taught as a young kid obviously to finish your checks,” Hartnell said of his hit on Antipin. ”I wasn’t head-hunting. We were leading the game at that time. A 5-minute penalty, and they scored three quick ones and it’s a totally different ballgame. It’s just unfortunate. I feel really bad about it.”This game also marked the NHL debut of Nashville rookie Eeli Tolvanen Viktor Arvidsson Jersey , and coach Peter Laviolette gave Filip Forsberg the night off and replaced him with the Finn who set the KHL scoring record for an 18-year-old with Jokerit before being eliminated in the second round of the playoffs.Pominville started the scoring 43 seconds in. Nashville led 2-1 at the end of the first with Subban scoring on a slap shot that deflected off Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen at 2:59 for a rare Nashville power-play goal. The Predators came into the game 3 of 49 on the man advantage since March 1.Nashville led 2-1 at 17:00 of the first on Watson’s goal, and Turris made it 3-1 a couple minutes into the second.O’Reilly scored at 5:45 of the second on the power play, and Okposo tied it up at 3 with a wrister from the slot off a rebound at 7:20. The Predators took a 4-3 lead at 12:50 when Bonino hopped over Johnson’s left leg and backhanded the puck into the net. Buffalo lots its challenge for goaltender interference with Johnson on his belly in the crease.Reinhart got his hat trick at 11:43 of the third. Buffalo finished 4 of 9 on the power play.”We came out flat the whole 60 minutes,” Nashville captain Roman Josi said. ”We never played up to our potential, and it just wasn’t good enough.”NOTES: Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson, Nashville’s leading goal scorer, played only 43 seconds of the second before going to the locker room to stay. The Predators had no update on his status after the game. … Eichel had Buffalo’s first five-point game since Thomas Vanek on Jan. 31, 2013, at Boston. Eichel now has 102 career assists. … Fisher played in his 1,100th career NHL game.UP NEXTSabres: Visit Toronto on Monday night.Predators: Visit Tampa Bay on Sunday.—