Tampa, Florida – The Tampa Bay Lightning got the better of the Carolina Hurricanes in a big way, winning Game 4 and taking a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Captain Steven Stamkos (31) led the way with three total points for the Bolts as they won game four over the Canes 6-4, pulling within one game of advancing to the next round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Tampa had an answer for everything Carolina threw at them, and they had no problems reminding everyone that they are indeed the defending Stanley Cup champions. The Hurricanes hung tough in the beginning, keeping the gameplay close despite giving up a goal to Tampa’s Brayden Point.

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The second period had goals, goals, and more goals, with a total of eight scores split between both teams. There was so much high-powered offense going on that things were starting to look like a video game. Stamkos scored both of his goals and an assist in that period alone.

Not to be outdone, the Canes did put up a fight in the middle period, jumping ahead of Tampa by two goals at one point. They had four different players lighting the lamp in an affair that temporarily took the charge out of Tampa and their fans.

The Lightning stormed back and took a one-goal lead into the third where they sealed the deal with one last goal to put a stamp on a wild night.

The truth of the matter is that if Carolina hadn’t committed six penalties in the game, they might’ve had a real chance to further bury Tampa while they were still down. Three of the four second-period Lightning goals came during the power-play, showing a real issue with Carolina’s discipline while holding a lead.

The Hurricanes did manage to score the most goals in a game against the Lightning on Saturday, but they’ll have to adjust to avoid shooting themselves in the foot if they want to save their season in game five.

Game five of the Central Division second-round playoffs is on Tuesday, from Raleigh, North Carolina.