Ironically, the Bolts had already clinched before Cirelli stuffed home a shot at the side of the net because of the Islander's regulation loss to Pittsburgh that went final just as overtime was getting underway in Tampa.
With the Bolts battling with Boston and Toronto for positioning leading into the postseason, picking up both points was still huge. The win moves the Lightning three points clear of the Bruins for the third spot in the Atlantic Division standings and helped them keep pace with Toronto who also won on Thursday.
Tampa Bay will next be in action on Saturday night when they return to AMALIE Arena to host the Jets.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
TBL 1, ANA 0
2:37 Ross Colton (17) - Steven Stamkos
Steven Stamkos pressured Dominik Simon in the corner and forced him into a pass that was intercepted by Ross Colton in front of the Anaheim net. Colton actually misfired on his backhand attempt, but had the shot deflect off the right leg of Josh Mahura and past Anthony Stolarz.
TBL 2, ANA 0
16:42 Alex Killorn (22) - Anthony Cirelli, Erik Cernak
In the corner, Anthony Cirelli avoided a pair of Ducks skaters and found Alex Killorn wide open in the slot. Killorn used the time and space to ring a shot in off the near post to double Tampa Bay's lead late in the first period.
2nd Period
TBL 2, ANA 1
3:42 Adam Henrique (16) - Kevin Shattenkirk, Cam Fowler
Anaheim got on the board early in the second period when Adam Henrique tipped Kevin Shattenkirk's shot from the right point past Andrei Vasilevskiy.
TBL 2, ANA 2
10:19 Adam Henrique (17) - Ryan Getzlaf
Midway through the period, Henrique pulled up at the top of the left circle and fired a shot that trickled through Vasilevskiy's equipment and over the line to tie the game at two.
ANA 3, TBL 2
10:41 Troy Terry (34) - Andrej Sustr, Ryan Getzlaf
Just 22 seconds the equalizer, Troy Terry gave Anaheim the lead with their third goal of the period. Andrej Sustr took the initial shot from the right point and Terry was stationed in front to deflect it home. The goal marked the end of Vasilevskiy's night, with Brian Elliott taking over between the pipes from there.
3rd Period
ANA 3, TBL 3
19:47 Nikita Kucherov (16) - Corey Perry, Steven Stamkos
With six skaters on the ice and the net empty in the final minute of regulation, Nikita Kucherov fired a wrister from the high slot that got through traffic and past Stolarz to bring the Bolts level and force overtime.
Overtime
TBL 4, ANA 3
1:58 Anthony Cirelli (16) - Alex Killorn, Mikhail Sergachev
After already having a goal in regulation and overtime wiped off the board because of offside zone entries, Killorn made a great play to set up Anthony Cirelli's game-winner at 1:58 of the extra session. Killorn had the puck on his stick in the slot but made a pass to Cirelli at the far post with Stolarz pulled way out of position. Cirelli took a moment to settle the puck before jamming it into the open net to secure the second point for Tampa Bay.
