TAMPA - Tampa Bay Lightning captain Victor Hedman scored 2:07 into overtime Thursday, burying a backhand shot through the legs of Seattle Kraken goaltender Phillip Grubauer to give the Lightning a 4-3 win at Benchmark International Arena.
Hedman carried the puck through the neutral zone, split three Kraken skaters and converted to keep Tampa Bay unbeaten at home this season at 4-0-0 and improve the team’s overall record to 5-2-0. “It’s been a while since I played 3-on-3 in a game like this. I just kind of surveyed what was open, and I felt like their other two guys were kind of wide,” Hedman said of the overtime winner. “I felt like if I could get a step on the top guy that I had a chance, so it was just trusting my instincts and trusting my legs.”
Brandon Hagel carried the offensive load for Tampa Bay, scoring twice to push his season total to six goals - tied for fifth among all NHL players. Hagel’s team-leading fifth goal of the year tied the game at 1-1 with 3:07 remaining in the first period, and he added a second in the opening minutes of the second period to give the Lightning a 2-1 lead. “If I get an opportunity to shoot, I shoot. Sometimes I don’t still (laughs), but the more shots you take the better chance you’ve got to score,” Hagel said. Hagel has scored five goals in his last three games.
Hedman credited Hagel’s relentless play as the catalyst for the overtime winner itself. “He’s one of the guys that keep dragging us into the fight every single night and making some great plays,” Hedman said. “Obviously he scored another two goals and has five in his last three games. He’s just a dog on a bone. You see it at the start of overtime. They have the puck, but he’s forechecking and getting the puck, and we get possession and are able to get a couple changes, and then we score. So he sets it all up for the next line to have success.”
Seattle opened the scoring when Ryan Winterton tapped home an open look at the left post just 5 minutes, 43 seconds into the game off a Lightning turnover near the goal line. The Kraken tied the game again at 2-2 when Jared McCann converted a centering pass from Jordan Eberle 2:54 into the third period on the power play. Ilya Mikheyev restored the Lightning lead with 10:02 remaining in regulation by forcing a turnover behind the Kraken net and tapping in the puck, but Matty Beniers redirected a shot to force overtime in the closing minutes.
Head coach Jon Cooper acknowledged the uneven performance despite the victory. “I liked a lot of our game tonight. I think there were some holes in our game,” Cooper said, pointing specifically to faceoff struggles he said cost the team twice during the contest.
The Lightning host the Vancouver Canucks at Benchmark International Arena on Saturday at 4 p.m.