Lightning defeat Panthers in OT, point streak at seven

Brayden Point scored at 2:13 of overtime, and the Tampa Bay Lightning extended their point streak to seven games with a 3-2 win against the Florida Panthers at Amalie Arena in Tampa.

Point scored after Ondrej Palat stole the puck from Carter Verhaeghe near the Tampa Bay net and made an outlet pass. Point beat Sergei Bobrovsky after a quick deke to his backhand, the same move Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman tried earlier in overtime when he also had a breakaway.
"It's better than having me," Hedman said. "I tried to go to the backhand, but it didn't really work. Give that to the specialist. Pretty move by him and we end up with the two points."

Pat Maroon and Hedman scored for the Lightning (7-3-3), who are 5-0-2 during their streak. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves, including against Aaron Ekblad in the first minute of overtime when he quickly moved across the crease.
"We're managing the puck a lot better," Point said. "Not as many turnovers. Not as many odd-man rushes against. And then just competing."
Jonathan Huberdeau and Eetu Luostarinen scored for the Panthers (10-2-3), who lost each game of a four-game road trip after starting the season 10-0-1. Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves.
"I feel this game was our best game in a while," Luostarinen said. "We just have to keep playing that way and we'll eventually get the two points."
Florida tied it 2-2 with second-period goals 36 seconds apart. Huberdeau scored his first goal in nine games at 12:59 with a wrist shot from the left side before Luostarinen tipped Ekblad's shot from the point at 13:35.
"I thought we just competed hard and I think that turned the tide," Panthers coach Andrew Brunette said. "I thought per man we started winning our little individual battles and that got us back in the hockey game. Earlier in the year we were winning games that were like this. This is the ebbs and flows of the regular season. We hope we realize it's a hard, hard league and there's going to be a lot of nights like tonight."

Maroon gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 12:17 of the first period with a power-play goal. Hedman made it 2-0 at 9:02 of the second period when he scored from a sharp angle after Boris Katchouk's shot from the wing bounced off Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling in front of the net.
This was the 19th game between the teams during this calendar year, including the Stanley Cup Playoffs and preseason, and the Lightning ended a four-game regular-season losing streak that included a 4-1 loss at Tampa Bay on Oct. 19.
The Lightning have won 10 of the 19 games, including a six-game series win in the 2021 Stanley Cup First Round.
"They're a good team," Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. "They're a really good test for us for sure. We've got a good rivalry going on. Both teams want to win really bad. It's a lot of fun to play these type of games."
NOTES: Point's eight overtime goals are third in Lightning history behind Martin St. Louis (10) and Steven Stamkos (nine). ... Lightning defenseman Zach Bogosian played 18:01 and had an assist in his first game since sustaining a lower-body injury in the season opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 12. ... Barkov had an assist on Huberdeau's goal to extend his point streak to nine games (seven goals, four assists). Huberdeau scored his fourth goal.