Saturday, 4 a.m.
Sometimes, you can’t tell the winners without a stop watch.
That figures. For most of Friday night, it appeared the Tampa Bay Lightning was running out of time. But a pair of last-heartbeat goals, following a pair of Chicago Blackhawk penalties, led the Bolts to a 4-3 win in overtime.
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The Bolts, on a two-game losing streak, trailed a struggling Chicago team for most of the night. The Blackhawks, in last place in the NHL’s Central Division, held a 3-1 lead in the second period despite a lack of offense. For the night, Chicago managed just 14 shots against Jonas Johansson.
But then came the buzzer beaters. Nick Paul scored on a backhand shot with eight seconds to play in the second period. Then, in the third, Jake Guentzel scored on a power play with 41 seconds to play to tie the game.
Nikita Kucherov, also on the power play, scored 58 seconds into overtime for the winner. It was his 23rd goal, and his 73rd point, of the season. Kucherov has seven overtime winners in his career.
The Bolts scored on all three of their power plays.
Chicago will no doubt kick itself for taking a pair of late penalties. Alec Martinez was called for tripping Brandon Hagel, which led to Guentzel’s goal. Teuvo Teravainen was called for tripping Nick Paul, which led to Kucherov’s winning goal.
“We were a little in the mud in the first half of the game,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “The big goal at the end of the second period gave us a chance, and the guys kind of willed their way in the third period. It’s so hard to win in this league. You can’t quit. You have to keep going,”
The Bolts got goals from Mitchell Chaffee, Paul (his 14th), Guentzel (his 25th) and Kucherov.
Johansson won his fifth game with just 11 saves.
Tampa Bay visits the Detroit Red Wings tonight at 7 p.m.