Nikita Kucherov scored 58 seconds into overtime and had two assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3.
Chicago rookie Landon Slaggert gave Chicago their first lead of the night on a one-time shot from the top of the left faceoff circle. A Chicago shot missed the net wide but bounced around the front of the net to a waiting Ryan Donato, who extended the Blackhawks’ lead from the left side of the goal.
After a brutal schedule of games in the month of January, the Lightning are back home at Amalie Arena for the foreseeable future ahead of the 4 Nations break. They'll open their five-game homestand with a matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks who they faced just last week.
Kucherov’s game-winner came after Jake Guentzel tipped in his pass in front of the net to tie it 3-3 on the power play with 42 seconds remaining in the third period for the Lightning, who outshot the Blackhawks 17-1 in the period.
On Tuesday night, the Chicago Blackhawks played the Tampa Bay Lightning for the second time in a week. That means that they were able to see old friend Brandon Hagel a couple of times. Since being traded to the Lightning by the Blackhawks,
The Tampa Bay Lightning will play the Chicago Blackhawks twice in the next five days, starting on Friday night in Chicago. The Lightning are 0-2 so far on their road-trip and would love nothing more than to grab two points.
Nikita Kucherov capped a three-point outing with a power-play goal 58 seconds into overtime, and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 on Friday.
BOTTOM LINE: The Chicago Blackhawks enter the matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning as losers of three games in a row. Tampa Bay has a 26-19-3 record overall and a 15-6-1 record in home games. The Lightning have allowed 135 goals while scoring 170 for a +35 scoring differential.
If proximity leads to familiarity, the Chicago Blackhawks and Tampa Bay Lightning should be getting to know each other pretty well. They will meet for the second time in five days on Tuesday night, this time in Florida to cap their season series.
After a nightmare Northern road trip where the Lightning went 1-3, Tampa Bay (26-19-3) finally comes home to Amalie Arena for another tilt against the Chicago Blackhawks (15-29-5). The Lightning are happy to be home for the first time in 10 days.
There was just under two minutes left in the period when Slaggert scored and they took that 2-1 lead into the third. There, Ryan Donato scored one off a Seth Jones shot that bounced right to him off the end board. Once Teuvo Teravainen made it 4-1 with an empty netter, the game was sealed.
The Lightning hoped a return home and two days off would lead to better outcomes to close out their most testing month of the season. But by the end of Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to Chicago, after the seating bowl of Amalie Arena had mostly emptied,