The Lightning needed every minute of regulation to pull out a win on the final leg of their three-game West Coast road trip.
After surrendering a one-goal lead going into the third period, the Lightning got the winning goal from Nikita Kucherov with 56.2 seconds left in the third period to seal a 4-3 victory over the Sharks on Saturday afternoon at the SAP Center.
The Lightning ended their swing through California by winning two of three, continuing to accumulate points following a slow start to the season. After tallying just two points in their first four games of the season, the Lightning (5-4-1) have won four of their last five.
Forward Alex Killorn scored a goal and assisted on another Saturday. Victor Hedman scored 32 seconds into the game, his first goal of the season, and forward Ross Colton added a power-play goal in the opening period.
The Lightning’s top scoring line of Kucherov, Brayden Point and Brandon Hagel dictated the pace of the game throughout, down to the winning goal.
In the game’s final moments, Point used his speed to create a rush after taking a pass from Hedman in the defensive zone. He sent a cross-ice pass to Hagel with Kucherov streaking in front of him, and Hagel patiently put the puck on Kucherov’s tape for an easy tap in for the winner.
Point also led a rush into the offensive zone to create the first goal of the game, flinging the puck across the right circle to Hedman trailing near the left hashmark. In mid-motion, Hedman roofed the puck past Sharks goaltender James Reimer.
Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson evened the score just 50 seconds later, converting a chance created after Steven Stamkos missed a pass to Nick Paul in the Lightning zone.
Colton received a fortunate bounce for his second game of the season after Killorn’s shot hit off the post and right to Colton in the right circle, gift-wrapping an open net with 6:16 left in the second.
The Sharks put the pressure on in the second — Andrei Vasilevskiy made a huge save on Karlsson on one rush, then saw Karlsson hit the post on his own rebound — and cashed in on Nico Sturm’s goal from the right circle 5:36 into the period.
The Lightning took advantage of a San Jose turnover in the neutral zone, and Killorn broke from the near boards toward the goal. Defenseman Erik Cernak found him at the blue line, and Killorn’s wrister from near the right dot beat Reimer five hole.
Karlsson then tied the score at 3 on the power play 4:34 into the third. The Lightning lost a faceoff in their own zone, and Karlsson had an uncontested shot from the point.
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