The Backcheck: Lightning down Leafs in OT

It's not every day you watch a hockey game with 15 minor penalties called in regulation, but that was the case on Saturday night at AMALIE Arena when the Tampa Bay Lightning skated to a 4-3 overtime win in a matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"It was a weird game tonight," said Lightning head coach Jon Cooper.
With so many penalties, there wasn't a lot of five-on-five hockey being played and neither team had much time to get into any kind of rhythm at even strength.

"It was really tough," said Alex Killorn, who went on to score the game-winning goal in overtime. "Going into the third at 5-on-5, myself personally, I didn't have a ton of shifts. A lot of guys didn't get a lot of chemistry with their line just because we hadn't had a lot of 5-on-5 play."
Tampa Bay was able to kill off two penalties in the first period but failed to score on either of the two power plays they earned. After the Lightning went on the power play for the third time of the game at the 4:52 mark of the second period, special teams finally got a goal on the board, but it was Toronto scoring the first goal of the night.
Mitch Marner opened the scoring with 14:42 left in the second with a shorthanded goal, marking the sixth time Tampa Bay has given up a shorthanded goal, the most in the NHL this season.
But despite giving up the shorthanded goal, Tampa Bay didn't blink and tied the game just 2:32 later with Vladislav Namestnikov scoring his first goal of the season.
After making a nice move to maintain puck possession in the offensive zone, Namestnikov sent a pass up to Erik Cernak at the point, who fired a wrist shot that was blocked in front, but Namestnikov immediately jumped on the loose puck and wired it into the top right corner over the glove of Matt Murray.
The crowd erupted and Namestnikov let out a big yell as he got the monkey off his back following a 23-game goal drought to start the year.
"You could tell that was a huge exhale," said Cooper. "You felt the roof blow off a little bit when he scored that one.
"The guys on the bench, everybody recognizes that, so really happy for him."

Cernak picked up an assist for the second-straight game on Namestnikov's goal and the secondary helper went to Anthony Cirelli, who was making his season debut on Saturday after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery. That wouldn't be the only time in the game that Cirelli's name appeared on the scoresheet.
"It felt great just to be out there with the guys and playing in a game," said Cirelli. "It was awesome.
"It's been a while, so I was kind of nervous at the beginning, but once I got a couple first shifts there, it was nice."
After a Brayden Point goal was overturned due to a successful offside challenge by Toronto, the Leafs quickly jumped back on top at the 16:50 mark of the second with William Nylander scoring his 14th goal of the season.
But Tampa Bay tied the game once again just 1:51 into the third period with a power-play goal from Nikita Kucherov. Just as a 4-on-3 advantage expired for the Lightning, Kucherov controlled the puck at the right circle and surveyed his options before ripping a quick wrist shot past Murray with Corey Perry providing a textbook, perfect screen in front of the net.
A quick 2:43 passed on the clock after the Kucherov goal before Ross Colton gave the Bolts their first lead of the evening with a power-play goal of his own. Following a scramble in front of Murray, Perry sent a pass up to the point for Sergachev. With all four Leafs players thinking Sergachev was going to fire a shot on goal, the Lightning defenseman sent a quick pass over to Colton, who had quietly found open ice and positioned himself perfectly before he fired a shot past Murray for his sixth goal of the year and second in as many games.
Leading by one after rattling off two straight power-play goals, it looked like Tampa Bay may walk away with a win in regulation, but after the 15th and final minor penalty of the night went against the Lightning, Marner scored his second of the game 18 seconds into the Toronto power play and tied the game with 8:05 left in regulation.
From there, the game went to overtime, where the Leafs won the opening draw and had possession before an Auston Matthews turnover in the Lightning defensive zone sent Tampa Bay flying into Toronto's zone.
Cirelli crossed over the blue line and sent a pass to his right for Killorn, who gathered the pass while skating backwards and leaned into a wrist shot from just outside the right faceoff dot that found its way under the arm of Murray and into the back of the net.
"I mean it may have not been the best spot to shoot on the ice, but I just figured I would give it a try," said Killorn. "Tony was going to the net, so I figured he probably may get the rebound, but pretty fortunate I was able to catch him low glove there."
It was Cirelli's second helper of the game in his first game action in 160 days. As the game went on, Cooper thought Cirelli continued to look better and better. He'll be a huge piece for the Bolts moving forward this season.
"Huge," said Cooper. "Can't say enough. It's tough. You do all this training and the last couple of months all he's done is grind, grind, grind. The body's feeling good, but until you get into a game - game shape is way different than practice shape.
"You could tell his timing and things, but as that game went on, he had that one great rush to the net. Unbelievable forecheck in the second to set up Vladdy and then he just got better and better and better, hence his ice time started going up because he was handling it.
"He's going to be a big add for us. There's no question."

As for Killorn, Saturday's game-winning goal was the 31st of his career, giving him sole possession of the eighth-most in Lightning franchise history.
Killorn's pointed in six of his last seven and eight of his last 10 games. He ranks fifth among Lightning skaters in goals (8), assists (12), and points (20) this season. A lot of those points have come while skating on a line with his good friend, Stamkos, who was honored with a pre-game ceremony on Tuesday to celebrate his 1,000th career point.
"I've played almost 750 games with the guy," said Killorn. "He's a really special player. Looking back at the kind of player, the person he is, the injuries he's battled through, the goal scoring ability he has - I'm just happy to be able to tell people that I've played with him and I'm good friends with him.
"It's just great and to see his family out there, such a beautiful family. It was a really awesome moment watching all of his great memories with the Lightning."
Stamkos was joined by his mother and father prior to puck drop on Saturday night, along with his wife and two sons. After seeing their dad gifted with a golden hockey stick, Carter and Chase Stamkos were gifted with two gold mini sticks from Thunderbug. Looking like the natural goal scorer his father is, Carter immediately put his stick blade on the ice and looked like he was ready to play right then and there.
It was a great night remembering all the moments Stamkos has been a part of as a member of the Lightning over the past 14-plus seasons. It won't be long before we're celebrating his 500th career goal.
One last milestone on the night. Congratulations to Corey Perry, who became the 122nd player in NHL history to play 1,200 career games. He picked up two assists for the second-straight game and played one of his best games of the season.