The advantage was short-lived. Less than two minutes later, Steven Stamkos redirected a shot by Ryan McDonagh past Kuemper to tie the score 1-1. The goal was his 384th, the most by any member of the Lightning in franchise history. Stamkos, whom Tampa Bay drafted first overall in 2008, received a standing ovation from the crowd when his feat was acknowledged on the video board during a break in the game.
After neither team scored in the middle frame, Victor Hedman put Tampa Bay ahead 2-1 when he crashed the net and flipped a loose puck past Kuemper 44 seconds into the third period. The Coyotes outshot the Lightning, 11-6, in the final 20 minutes but couldn't score on Andrei Vasilevskiy, who made 28 saves overall.
Stamkos created some extra drama when he was called for delay of game with just 1:39 left. Wanting to skate six-on-four, the Coyotes pulled Kuemper. The maneuver didn't succeed, and Tampa Bay added two empty-net goals within the last minute to create a final score that didn't represent the close game that was played.
"We feel like we played a really good game," Alex Goligoski said. "It's the kind of game we wanted to play. It was right there for us. It's a little frustrating not getting the two points, but that's the way it goes."
