After Stamkos gave Tampa Bay the lead, Florida reeled off the next two goals and led 2-1 past the midway point of the third. Enter Point, who scored the tying goal off a deflection at 9:29 of the final frame and then the winner on a power play in overtime.
Andrei Vasilevskiy was superb in net, stopping 35 of 37 shots and keeping Tampa Bay in the game even as the Panthers kept play hemmed in the Lightning's zone for long stretches.
The Bolts now face a quick turnaround with a home date against the Islanders back in Tampa on Saturday night.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
TBL 1, FLA 0
13:04 Steven Stamkos (7) - Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman - PPG
Steven Stamkos' torrid start to the season continued Friday with a game-opening power play goal. An Eetu Luostarinen broken stick effectively created a 5-on-3 chance for Tampa Bay and opened space in the middle of the ice for Nikita Kucherov to tee up Stamkos for a one-timer. Even as he fell to the ice, Stamkos was able to get enough on the shot to beat Sergei Bobrovsky.
TBL 1, FLA 1
15:48 Matthew Tkachuk (3) - Brandon Montour, Gustav Forsling
Brandon Montour spun free at the bottom of the left circle and shoveled a backhander toward the net. Matthew Tkachuk went unmarked in front and was on-hand to redirect the feed past Andrei Vasilevskiy.
2nd Period
FLA 2, TBL 1
15:37 Rudolfs Balcers (2) - Matthew Tkachuk, Gustav Forsling
Off an offensive zone faceoff win, Montour tried a quick shot that deflected off Tkachuk and fell to Rudolfs Balcers in the slot. He quickly fired home a backhander before Vasilevskiy could react to give Florida the lead.
3rd Period
FLA 2, TBL 2
9:29 Brayden Point (2) - Nikita Kucherov, Mikhail Sergachev
For most of the night, Tampa Bay struggled to get anything going during 5-on-5 play but managed to break through midway through the third. Stationed in the slot, Brayden Point tipped Kucherov's point shot underneath Bobrovsky's glove to level the game at two.
Overtime
TBL 3, FLA 2
2:08 Brayden Point (3) - Steven Stamkos, Corey Perry - PPG
After tying it in the third, Point got the game-winner to earn Tampa Bay that important second point. With the Bolts on a power play early in overtime, Stamkos circled the zone and dished to a wide-open Point in front of the net. He had time and space to find room on Bobrovsky and tuck home his second goal of the night.
