Meier, Sharks rally past Lightning in OT

TAMPA --Timo Meier had two goals and an assist, including scoring at 2:19 of overtime, to give the San Jose Sharks a 4-3 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Tuesday.

Meier won it when he tapped in a backdoor pass from Erik Karlsson. The goal was his 30th of the season.
"I thought we did a good job changing and holding on to the puck," Meier said. "We made a change with the puck, and I tried to pick a little for Erik. He did what he does best, find guys backdoor, and I just had to tap it in."

Karlsson had a goal and two assists, and Tomas Hertl had two assists for the Sharks (16-25-11), who were playing for the first time since Jan. 28. Kaapo Kahkonen made 34 saves.
"I thought we were really on our heels in the first," San Jose coach David Quinn said. "They played last night. We got better as the game went on. The penalties really put us in a hole. [Kahkonen] made the saves he needed to. Just really happy for him, because he's playing really well, and it's good to see us take advantage of it."
Brayden Point scored twice, and Nikita Kucherov had two assists for the Lightning (32-16-2), who had their home winning streak end at 12. Brian Elliott made 18 saves.
Tampa Bay was coming off a 7-1 loss at the Florida Panthers on Monday.
"We've talked about what makes us tick and what makes us play well," Lightning forward Corey Perry said. "We've got to get back to the predictable and play together because good things happen. Last night you can wash that one away, but tonight you've got to find a way to put a team away and have that killer instinct."
Ross Colton gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 2:10 of the first period. Kahkonen skated to his left to play the puck after Zach Bogosian knocked it back toward the net, but Colton cut in front of the goalie and wrapped the puck past his outstretched right pad.
Karlsson tied it 1-1 at 6:28 with a slap shot from above the left face-off circle on a power play.

Point put the Lightning back in front 2-1 at 9:21, taking a back pass from Kucherov and shooting high blocker side from the top of the left circle.
Point then extended the lead to 3-1 at 16:44. He scored past Kahkonen's outstretched left pad in the slot after Mikhail Sergachev's backdoor pass deflected to him off the skate of Marc-Edouard Vlasic.
"I liked our game in the first, and we kind of got away from it in the second," Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said. "This one stings."
Meier cut it to 3-2 at 16:23 of the second period with a power-play goal. He one-timed a pass from Alexander Barabanov in front shortly following a scramble during a face-off.
"For the first 30 minutes we looked a little rusty, but we found a way to battle back and played real determined," Meier said. "We found a way to get the two points and it feels good."
San Jose finished the game 2-for-3 on the power play. Tampa Bay was 1-for-6.
"I thought we came out and dictated play and did what we wanted to do for 20 minutes," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "Then special teams took over, and we lost the special teams game."
Jonah Gadjovich tied it 3-3 at 3:08 of the third period when Scott Harrington's point shot deflected off him in front.
"It feels good to come back and tie the game, get the point and finish it off in overtime," Harrington said. "We've had some poor luck in overtime in the past, so winning the first game after the break feels great. We want to build off this feeling."

NOTES:Lightning forward Nicholas Paul left the game in the second period with an undisclosed injury. There was no update. … Meier has scored 13 power-play goals this season, an NHL career high. ... Kucherov has 30 points (five goals, 25 assists) during a 16-game home point streak, tying his own mark (set in 2018-19) for the longest in Lightning history. ... Karlsson has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past four games. ... Point has eight points (four goals, four assists) during a four-game point streak.