Jordan Martinook scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period, and the Eastern Conference-leading Carolina Hurricanes won 4-2 over the host Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.

A minute after Carolina defenseman Sean Walker made an amazing kick save on Brandon Hagel’s shot headed for an open net with goaltender Frederik Andersen (17 saves) angled away from the cage, Martinook whipped in a sharp-angled shot at 9:18 for a 3-2 lead.

With Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy finally pulled for an extra skater inside of two minutes after a dominant offensive-zone shift by the Hurricanes, Andersen stuffed Nikita Kucherov’s game-tying attempt while charging through the low slot.

Logan Stankoven’s empty-net goal with 91 seconds remaining gave Carolina a 9-3-0 record in the past 12 games.

Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho had a goal and an assist apiece. Rod Brind’Amour coached his 600th NHL game behind the Carolina bench and won for the 367th time.

Tampa Bay’s Yanni Gourde and Charle-Edouard D’Astous tallied, while Vasilevskiy made 31 saves as the Lightning fell to 2-7-0 over nine games.

After Svechnikov was fouled by Victor Hedman driving across the goal in the first minute, he looped around on the delayed penalty, took a feed from Aho and broke a tie in goals with the Finnish center with his 24th.

The top-line duo was at it again on the match’s second tally after K’Andre Miller sprung Aho on a breakaway, which Vasilevskiy turned away. Trailing the play, Svechnikov found the rebound and fed Aho at the far post for an easy marker at 17:28 to create another tie in goals with his linemate.

In the second period, Vasilevskiy’s stop on Svechnikov’s shot from the slot was swept out by Hedman to Gourde. The gritty forward then beat Andersen from the right circle at 14:10 to halve the lead.

Just 81 seconds later, Brayden Point led a rush and saucered a pass over to D’Astous, who won a race with Miller and chipped in the tying tally.

In the first two minutes of the third, defense excelled as Vasilevskiy made a sprawling save on Taylor Hall’s shot from point-blank range.

Then Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin foiled Jake Guentzel’s pass that would have been an easy tap-in for Point at the post and put the home side up by a goal.

Carolina outshot Tampa Bay, 11-2, over the final 20 minutes.

–Field Level Media

Nicolas Fernandez scored a first-half brace to lead New York City FC to a 3-1 win over the visiting Colorado Rapids on Saturday.

Talles Magno tacked on a late insurance goal for NYCF (3-0-1, 10 points) off a Maxi Moralez assist.

Darren Yapi scored a goal off a Rafael Navarro assist for Colorado (2-2-0, 6 points). The Rapids played their second straight match without starting goalkeeper Zack Steffen, who has been sidelined with a shoulder injury.

A determined effort led to Fernandez’s first goal. Colorado couldn’t clear NYCFC’s attack and Fernandez fired off a shot that resulted in a punch save from Colorado goalie Nico Hansen. But Fernandez gathered the rebound and chipped it in for a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute.

In the 45th minute, Fernandez struck again when he made the most of a deep restart as he slammed home a goal from an acute angle to give NYCFC a 2-0 lead.

Colorado stayed in the match with a Yappi goal in first-half stoppage time. Navarro’s pass wide of NYCFC defenders connected with Yappi who tucked a right-footed, side-winding shot inside the bottom corner to pull the Rapids within 2-1 at halftime.

As the NYCFC attack built, Hansen turned away a Hannes Wolf shot from inside the 6-yard box. Moments later, Fernandez lefty strike off a restart was secured by Hansen. The backup Colorado goalie had five saves, while New York City FC keeper Matthew Freese notched just one.

The Rapids threatened in the 83rd minute when Dante Sealy set up Paxten Aaronson with a shot that was blocked by the NYCFC backline. But Magno sealed the win for NYCFC with his tally off a through ball from Moralez that slipped past the Colorado back line.

A physical first half featured four yellow cards, two on each side. For the match, the Rapids were whistled for 25 fouls and NYCFC 13. While Colorado held 58.1% of the possession, it was New York City FC that managed a 12-9 edge in shots. NYCFC also held an 8-2 advantage in shots on goal.

–Field Level Media

Despite defending champion Inter Miami sitting several of its regulars including Lionel Messi, host Charlotte FC couldn’t take advantage, with both sides dueling to a 0-0 draw on Saturday night.

Inter Miami (2-1-1, 7 points) had won back-to-back league matches, but played to their second consecutive scoreless draw after an identical scoreless stalemate at Nashville SC Wednesday in the first leg of their Round of 16 series of the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Neither Messi nor Rodrigo De Paul made the trip, and 10 starters from Miami’s previous match, including goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, sat out Saturday as the club prepared for the decisive Champions Cup match with Nashville this upcoming Wednesday.

Charlotte (1-1-2, 5 points) played its full lineup, which carried it to a 3-1 win last weekend against Austin. But despite mustering 10 shots, including five on target, Charlotte could not find the mark against Miami goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo, who made his first start of the season and finished with five saves.

Inter Miami’s revamped lineup, which included Luis Suarez making his first start of the season and Sergio Reguilon, who recently recovered from a knee sprain.. But Miami also couldn’t get a ball past Charlotte keeper Kristijan Kahlina, who made three saves.

Ian Fray had one of Miami’s best chances in the 34th minute as he headed a ball right in front of Kahlina, who stretched and dove to his left and blocked the ball, denying Miami a score.

Liel Abada had a great chance of his own in the 44th minute, but Rios Novo was up to the task, stopping the quality chance.

The game was very chippy on both sides in the first half as the teams drew a combined five yellow cards, including three in the first half.

Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano was dealt a yellow card and a subsequent red card for arguing with officials in the second minute of second-half stoppage time. Mascherano will have to sit out Inter Miami’s next MLS match on March 22nd at NYCFC.

–Field Level Media