RALEIGH, N.C. — Alex Killorn and Anthony Cirelli scored while Andrei Vasilevskiy was strong in net once again, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 on Tuesday night for a 2-0 lead in their second-round playoff series.

Vasilevskiy finished with 31 saves after being named one of three finalists for the Vezina Trophy presented annually to the league’s top goaltender. That came two days after he made 37 stops in a 2-1 victory in Game 1, including 15 saves in the opening period.

Killorn got the Lightning on the board 7:09 into the second period when he whipped a straightaway shot past Alex Nedeljkovic. The goaltender was shielded by teammate Jaccob Slavin tussling with Cirelli and didn’t appear to see the puck until it was past him in the net.

Cirelli added to Tampa Bay’s lead by taking Victor Hedman’s stretch pass and shaking free from Brady Skjei before converting a backhand to make it 2-0 at 8:06 of the third.

The Lightning didn’t generate much offense otherwise. They finished with just 15 shots, compared to 32 for the Hurricanes.

Still, just as they did in the first round against Florida, the reigning Stanley Cup champions have opened a best-of-seven series with a pair of road wins – this time against the Central Division champions. They host Game 3 on Thursday.

Andrei Svechnikov got Carolina on the board with 1:30 left, taking a feed from Jordan Staal from behind the net and finishing from the top of the crease.

It was a rare time when the Hurricanes successfully managed to create pressure and traffic around Vasilevskiy. That included Martin Necas going wide of the net on a short-handed two-on-one breakaway in the second period, with that play ending with Vasilevskiy’s stick out of his hand and spinning on the ice as he flailed at the puck.

The Hurricanes took a significant hit in this one when Vincent Trocheck was hurt late in the second period when he and teammate Warren Foegele banged legs as they tried to skate by each other.

Trocheck put little to no weight on his right leg as he skated to the bench, slamming his stick along the way before heading to the locker room. He played one short shift in the third but didn’t return.

NOTES

PENGUINS: After another early postseason exit and with new decision makers in the front office, questions emerged last week about Coach Mike Sullivan’s job status.

However, a source told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Sullivan will “100 percent” return behind the bench for the 2021-22 season. The coach still has three years remaining on a contract extension he signed in July of 2019, and he has the full support of new general manager Ron Hextall and president of hockey operations Brian Burke.

Sullivan, 53, won the Stanley Cup twice within his first 18 months on the job in Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017. But in the years since, he’s been tested by injuries to key players, changes to the coaching staff and disappointing postseason performances.

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