Former Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos scored the only goal in the fourth round of the shootout as the host Nashville Predators rallied to beat the Lightning 5-4 on Saturday afternoon.
Stamkos, who tied it 4-4 with a power-play tally at 7:27 of the third period, beat Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy under the right arm with a backhander for the game-winning goal.
Playing in his first shootout in his 83rd appearance — an NHL record – Nashville goalie Justus Annunen (22 saves) denied Pontus Holmberg, Brayden Point, Jake Guentzel and Gage Goncalves in the 1-on-1 session as the Predators won for the first time in their six overtime contests this season.
Reid Schaefer scored his first goal for Nashville while Adam Edstrom and Jayden Struble added markers. Nick Perbix and Filip Forsberg had two assists apiece.
Nikita Kucherov produced three assists the day after asking the Lightning to trade him. John Carlson had a goal and an assist while Guentzel, Victor Hedman and Conor Geekie netted goals. Vasilevskiy posted 29 saves.
In the first of the two matchups between the clubs, Annunen broke up the first good scoring play when he thwarted a 2-on-1 rush and give-and-go play initiated by Kucherov four minutes in.
Nashville went on the first power play after J.J. Moser’s tripping penalty. While it went scoreless, the team used the offensive momentum to break the ice when Schaefer skated in on an odd-man rush, looked off teammate Jonathan Marchessault and rifled in his first tally near the far post at 11:14.
Tampa Bay tied it when Carlson sent a perfect diagonal pass intended for Charle-Edouard D’Astous on a backdoor play. Edstrom, trailing on the play, inadvertently chipped it past his own goalie at 13:38 as Carlson received the credit.
The teams traded tallies in the first 45 seconds of the next frame as Guentzel tipped in his eighth on a long shot 17 seconds in, then Edstrom redeemed himself on a 2-on-1 with his fifth marker to knot the match for the second time.
Hedman produced his club’s third go-ahead goal at 3:23 of the second as the game’s pace continued to heat up. Struble’s second tally squared the contest for the third time with 18 seconds remaining in the second.
Geekie hit the net at even strength 3:31 into the third, then Stamkos tied it up with the game’s lone power-play goal.
