A comeback push for Tampa Bay earned a single standings point for the visiting Bolts but ended with a 4-3 shootout loss against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.
Lightning rookie Gage Goncalves opened the scoring with a power-play goal midway through the first period, but Philadelphia forward Bobby Brink tied the game later in the period.
Zemgus Girgensons regained the Lightning lead, 2-1, just 15 seconds into the second period before Philadelphia scored two unanswered goals to steal a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes.
Cam Atkinson scored against his former team 3:50 into the third period to tie the game. Philadelphia’s Owen Tippett scored the shootout winner in round five after Matvei Michkov and Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point had each scored in round two.
Tampa Bay goalie Jonas Johansson finished with 26 saves, while Philadelphia’s Samuel Ersson made 17 stops.
The Lightning are now 37-23-5 and will end their three-game road trip in Boston against the Bruins (30-28-8) on Saturday.
Scoring summary
First period
TBL 1, PHI 0
8:29 Gage Goncalves (4) - Yanni Gourde, Ryan McDonagh - PP
The Lightning scored on their first power-play chance of the game. Rookie Gage Goncalves’ first career power-play goal came on a redirect near the right post following a shot pass from Yanni Gourde in the left faceoff circle.
TBL 1, PHI 1
14:20 Bobby Brink (9) - Olle Lycksell, Ryan Poehling
The Flyers knotted the score at 1-1 with Bobby Brink’s top-shelf shot on the rush from the right faceoff circle.
Shots on goal: PHI 9, TBL 7
Second period
TBL 2, PHI 1
00:15 Zemgus Girgensons (2) - Erik Cernak, Brandon Hagel
Tampa Bay scored 15 seconds into the second period to regain the lead. Forward Zemgus Girgensons won a puck battle in the right corner before burying a rebound through the legs of Philadelphia goalie Samuel Ersson.
TBL 2, PHI 2
10:55 Brink (10) - Sean Couturier
Brink’s second goal of the game came on a backhand shot to finish a breakaway midway through period two.
PHI 3, TBL 2
19:01 Poehling (5) - Lycksell, Brink
Philadelphia took their first lead late in period two. Forward Ryan Poehling accepted a pass in the slot alone and moved to his backhand before finishing the deke inside the right post.
Shots on goal: PHI 8, TBL 7
Third period
TBL 3, PHI 3
3:50 Cam Atkinson (4) - Victor Hedman, JJ Moser
Tampa Bay tied the game in the opening moments of period three when Cam Atkinson ripped a shot through the glove of Ersson from the high slot following a pass by Victor Hedman from the left boards.
Shots on goal: PHI 11, TBL 5
Overtime
None.
Shots on goal: TBL 1, PHI 1
Shootout
PHI—Michkov, Tippett
TBL—Point
Total shots: PHI 29, TBL 20
