Canes falter again

RALEIGH -- A third-period spark from forward Chad LaRose, who returned to the lineup on his bobblehead night after missing 17 games, was not enough.

The Tampa Bay Lightning never trailed in a 3-2 win, handing the Carolina Hurricanes their third straight loss at the RBC Center on Monday night.

LaRose, who joined forward Sergei Samsonov in returning to the Canes' lineup, brought the energy and scrappy play that helped him earn a two-year deal in the offseason.

LaRose received a long pass at the Tampa Bay blue line from defenseman Tim Gleason and made a move on goalie Antero Niittymaki to tie the score at 2-2 at 4:07 in the third period with his second goal of the season.

"It was good, but it's all about winning on this team, two points, and the job didn't get done, and that's our fault as a team," LaRose said.

All night, the Lightning (19-19-10) had an answer.

Just over five minutes after LaRose scored, Tampa Bay forward Martin St. Louis rushed the Carolina zone with the puck and passed over to forward Steve Downie, who caught Carolina goalie Cam Ward out of position for the winner at 9:11.

"We give up too much ice, lack of confidence and lack of physicality, and it's burned us," Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice said.

Center Matt Cullen, who scored Carolina's first goal, reflected on what has caused the team's downfall late in games.

"It's hard to say," he said. "Obviously, it was a pretty untimely goal to give up, especially after we get that second one and kind of get momentum. ... It's tough to give up that one, and it turned out to be the story."

Maurice and Cullen each praised LaRose, a lone bright spot on another night of missed opportunities for Carolina (14-27-7).

LaRose ended up with 11:40 of ice time.

"We wanted to make sure he was all right," Maurice said. "He brings energy and some bark and some grit."

Maurice said LaRose had been playing hurt all season.

"I can tell you this: This young man was playing on one knee for an awful long time," Maurice said. "Most people wouldn't have. And his numbers weren't all what we had hoped for. ... It just got to the point where he couldn't skate on it anymore."

The low point of the night was the Hurricanes' power play. The team entered the game ranked 25th in the league but played like the worst.

Despite two power-play goals from Jussi Jokinen in Saturday's 5-3 loss to Atlanta, the power play on Monday was downright dysfunctional, going 0-for-4 for the night, totaling only three shots over the eight minutes.

"It had been going pretty darn good," Maurice said, surprised that the power play took a step back. "When you move the puck that slow, it's going to happen."

Ward kept the Canes in the game after giving up a goal to Ryan Malone, who squeaked a backhander between his pads at 11:07 in the first. Ward recorded 29 saves. He remains one win behind Arturs Irbe, who holds the franchise career record at 130.

The Hurricanes played the Lightning about even in the first period but went into an offensive lull in the second and didn't wake from it until late in the period.

Carolina broke into a flurry that saw forward Eric Staal fire wide on a good look from right of the crease.

Moments later, the Hurricanes finally got one past Niittymaki. Staal attempted a wraparound, and center Matt Cullen was there to put away the second rebound at 16:28 after forward Ray Whitney missed.

Less than two minutes later, Carolina defenseman Niclas Wallin was called for interference, and Tampa Bay scored on the power play, with center Vincent LeCavalier collecting the puck and scoring off a rebound for a 2-1 lead at 18:55 in the second.