NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Lightning went into the third period Saturday night having created some of their best scoring chances of the season but had little to show for it against the Nashville Predators.
They opened the game with their most shots on goal in any period this season with 18 but found themselves tied at one goal apiece entering the third.
Predators goaltender Juuse Saros was incredible in net, staving off several high-danger chances and turning away rebounds and third opportunities throughout the night.
But Alex Killorn deflected Ian Cole’s shot past Saros to tie the game with 3:21 left in regulation, and Steven Stamkos’ power-play goal with 2:24 left in in the 3-on-3 extra period gave the Lightning a 3-2 win.
It was Tampa Bay’s third victory in four games decided in overtime.
The Predators went ahead 2-1 just over five minutes into the third period after Lightning center Nick Paul failed to clear the puck out of the defensive zone and lost it to Nino Niederreiter against the near boards. Niederreiter skated into the right circle and beat Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Trailing 1-0 early in the second period, Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov took the game into his hands, scoring on a highlight-reel goal on the power play. Kucherov weaved through the neutral zone, parted two Nashville skaters and roofed a shot that hit the crossbar and went into the net.
Saros denied Brayden Point twice sweeping across the front of the net, fought off a Stamkos one-timer away with his mask and made an incredible lunging right pad save to deny Corey Perry’s attempt to tuck the puck inside the right post on a rebound.
Vasilevskiy didn’t see the same shot volume as Saros, who stopped 36 of 39 shots, but still stood tall in net, with 30 saves on 32 Nashville shots.
