Hedman score in OT, Lightning recover to defeat Kraken

TAMPA -- Victor Hedman scored with 2:53 remaining in overtime to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 4-3 win against the Seattle Kraken at Benchmark International Arena on Thursday.

Hedman skated with the puck to the point, split the Kraken defense and scored on Philipp Grubauer from close range.

"It's been a while since I played 3-on-3 in a game like this," Hedman said. "I was open and I felt like the other two guys were kind of wide, so I felt like I could get a step on the top guy to have a chance. Just trusting my instincts and trusting my legs."

It was Hedman's first goal since February 28 against the Buffalo Sabres. He played just 33 games last season before taking a leave of absence to prioritize his mental health, missing the final 15 games of the regular season and all seven the Lightning played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"You want to see things like that happen," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "Victor is going to have his name in the rafters here and you want times like that to be remembered. It's been a long fight back for him and those can do nothing but build his confidence. I think everybody got pretty excited when he did that."

Matty Beniers tied it 3-3 at 15:41 of the third period for Seattle on a redirection off an initial shot from Vince Dunn after winning the offensive zone face-off.

"I really liked our bench, our attitude and guys picking each other up," Beniers said. "They scored that goal and I don't think any guy flinched. I think it was, 'All right, let's get back to work and we've got 10 minutes to tie this up.’"

Brandon Hagel scored twice for the Lightning (5-2-0), who have won five of six (5-1-0) and are 4-0-0 at home this season. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves.

Jared McCann and Ryan Winterton scored for the Kraken (5-2-1), who had won three in a row and four of five (4-1-0). Grubauer made 31 saves.

Winterton gave Seattle a 1-0 lead at 5:43 of the first period after Frederick Gaudreau forced Emil Lilleberg into a turnover behind the net and flipped the puck to Winterton, who was open in front for the tap-in.

"It's a good point for us to get, certainly being down like that in the third period," Seattle coach Lane Lambert said. "You start getting into game four and day eight or nine of a road trip and it starts to become fatiguing. I thought we had a little bit of fatigue tonight."

Hagel tied it 1-1 at 16:53, getting behind Berkly Catton to receive Brayden Point’s pass and finish past Grubauer on a follow-up of his initial shot.

"We dug in, we stuck with it, it wasn't perfect, it wasn't pretty, but when you find a way to win, I've said before, two points are two points and move on," Hagel said. "I think our team battled, played the right way ... everything you can ask for."

Hagel's second goal gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead at 3:38 of the second period when he took a drop pass from Anthony Cirelli and sent a wrist shot from the top of the left circle that beat Grubauer glove side. He has five goals in the past three games.

"He's just picked up where he left off in the playoffs," Cooper said. "He's the guy that stirs the drink for our team. Whether it's on the ice or in the locker room, he's an emotional kid and I think when he's going like that, the guys jump on his back. He's been really, really good this year."

McCann tied it 2-2 at 2:54 of the third period on the power play, scoring on a one-timer from the low slot off a cross-ice pass from Jordan Eberle.

"I felt like early in the third there we really started to pick it up, we started playing behind their defense, got on the forecheck and we got to the front of the net and made it hard for the goalie to see pucks," McCann said. "Our competitiveness comes out when we get down. We just want to push, but we also want to play smart."

Ilya Mikheyev put the Lightning back ahead 3-2 at 9:58. He took the puck off Ville Ottavainen's stick in front of the net and poked it past Grubauer.

NOTES: Vasilevskiy earned his 374th win, tying him with John Vanbiesbrouck for 19th in NHL history. ... Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour left in the second period with a lower-body injury and did not return. … Beniers recorded his 200th NHL point (84 goals, 116 assists). ... Lightning forward Dominic James had an assist in 15:25 of ice time in his season debut after missing the first six games because of a hand injury. … Mikheyev’s goal was his 100th in the NHL.