Steven Stamkos fired home the game-winning goal — his second marker of the night — as the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied late and earned a 6-5 overtime victory over the host Buffalo Sabres on Monday.
The Lightning captain took a drop pass from Nicholas Paul and zipped in his 12th tally from the right circle past goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (19 saves) to give Tampa Bay its sixth win in the past seven games.
Stamkos added an assist for a three-point game and helped the Lightning rally from a late 5-3 deficit.
Brayden Point scored twice, Brandon Hagel had a goal and an assist and Corey Perry scored. Nikita Kucherov and Mikhail Sergachev had three assists apiece. Backup goaltender Brian Elliott made 32 saves to improve his all-time record against Buffalo to 20-4-2.
Tage Thompson had a goal and an assist, and Jack Quinn, Tyson Jost, Dylan Cozens and Jeff Skinner scored for the Sabres.
In the first period, the Lightning grabbed a 1-0 lead on their first power play when Point powered his way through traffic and deked past Luukkonen at 7:54.
With 3:12 remaining, Perry finished a slick feed from Stamkos, who skated from behind Luukkonen and sent a pass over to Perry for his third marker and a two-goal lead.
However, the Sabres erupted for a pair of goals just 59 seconds apart to knot it at 2-all. Thompson cruised his way through the slot and used his 6-foot-6 frame to put home his 14th tally. Then Quinn worked a clever give-and-go with JJ Peterka for his fourth goal on a fast rush.
In the second, Jost put the home side up 3-2 when he lifted a rebound for his first marker with the club since being claimed off waivers on Nov. 19 from the Minnesota Wild. Point one-timed his 10th goal at 16:26 for another tie.
With the match squared at 3 in the third period, Rasmus Dahlin skated the puck into the offensive zone, and Cozens — denied by Elliott earlier in the frame on a breakaway — ripped in his sixth goal at 9:37 for the lead. Skinner then fired in his 10th tally less than five minutes later for a 5-3 advantage.
However, Stamkos netted his 11th marker only 16 seconds later. Hagel then scored Tampa Bay’s third power-play goal at 17:58 to force overtime.
–Field Level Media
