NASHVILLE — Nikita Kucherov scored at 2:35 of overtime to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.
Victor Hedman and Ondrej Palat also scored and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 30 shots as the Lightning snapped a three-game skid.
Calle Jarnkrok and Kyle Turris had the goals for Nashville, which has lost three of its last four. Pekka Rinne finished with 28 saves.
In overtime, Steven Stamkos found Kucherov with a backdoor pass, where he had an easy tap-in past Rinne.
Turris tied the score 2-2 at 9:51 of the third on a power-play goal.
Hedman scored the game’s first goal at 7:46 of the opening period. After taking a pass from Stamkos, Hedman took a slap shot from the high slot that deflected off of the stick of Nashville’s Craig Smith and beat Rinne just underneath the crossbar.
The goal was one of just three Lightning shots in the first. Nashville countered with 13.
Jarnkrok tied it at 6:13 of the second. In the left circle, Turris won a faceoff back to Jarnkrok, who fanned on his initial shot attempt. After gathering the puck in the high slot, Jarnkrok beat Vasilevskiy with a wrist shot.
The tie was short-lived as Palat connected on a one-timer 31 seconds later off of a pass from Kucherov.
Midway through the second, the Lightning had a full five-minute power play after Nashville’s Ryan Johansen was given a major for elbowing and a game misconduct after he hit Brayden Point in the Nashville zone. Tampa only managed one shot on goal during the power play.
Notes: Turris returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the last seven games. … Nashville C Mikael Granlund did not play due to a lower-body injury. He’s listed as day-to-day. … NASCAR drivers Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano attended the game. … Kucherov extended his point streak to six games.
UP NEXT
Lightning: Host Minnesota on Thursday night.
Predators: Host New Jersey on Saturday.
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Jim Diamond, The Associated Press
