Mishkin's Extra Shift: Lightning 4, Ducks 3 - OT

Well, this one certainly had some twists and turns to it. The Lightning followed up a terrific first period with a loose middle stanza. They battled back in the third, eventually scoring a sixth-attacker goal in the closing seconds to force overtime. After having an initial OT goal from Alex Killorn called back for offside - the second time it happened to Killorn in the game - they ultimately prevailed when Killorn set up Anthony Cirelli for the game-winner.

The Lightning dominated possession in the first period. Shots on goal may have finished 11-6 in favor of Tampa Bay, but that total doesn't reflect the possession disparity. Most of the period was played in the Anaheim end and the Lightning cashed in for two goals. Following a Steven Stamkos offensive zone steal, the puck came to Ross Colton in front of the net. He backhanded his shot past Anthony Stolarz at 2:37. Killorn added to the lead when he accepted a pass from Cirelli and zipped a shot from the slot off the post and in.
But the lead wouldn't last. The Ducks pushed back in the second period and leveled the ice. They spent more time in the Lightning end and netted three goals over the opening 10:41 of the frame. All three came on tips. As Jon Cooper said afterwards, the Lightning didn't check as well as they had in the first. So the Ducks players established position in front of Andrei Vasilevskiy and deflected pucks into the net. (The second Anaheim goal was credited to Adam Henrique, who took the shot. But replays seemed to indicate that Troy Terry got a piece of the puck on its way to the net). That second Anaheim goal took place moments after a Lightning power play had ended - the sequence began with a Tampa Bay turnover in the neutral zone. The other two goals came off Anaheim shifts in the o-zone, as Henrique on the first and Terry on the third got their sticks on shots from the point. The third goal occurred just 22 seconds after the second one. That's when Jon Cooper pulled Vasilevskiy - the first time Vasilevskiy had been pulled from a game since the 2018 playoffs.
(Cooper made it clear afterwards that this move was done to get his team going and that it wasn't a reflection on Vasilevskiy's performance. Brian Elliott was outstanding in relief. He made 13 saves, including several key ones down the stretch. He stopped Terry's breakaway late in the third and denied Trevor Zegras' breakaway in overtime.)
In the third, the Lightning pressed to tie the game, but the Ducks dug in well defensively. Despite ceding a majority of the possession time in the third, Anaheim effectively took away shooting lanes from the Lightning. One final Lightning power play chance at 7:41 yielded a couple of good looks, but Stolarz stopped them both (including a tough save on Brayden Point's one-timer from the slot). Even though they didn't score while on the power play, the Lightning looked dangerous during their three man advantages throughout the night. And they kept up the pressure when they pulled Elliott for a sixth-attacker in the closing minutes. With time winding down, Nikita Kucherov skated from the right circle to the middle of the ice. As Corey Perry screened Stolarz, Kucherov waisted a wrist shot into the top of the net at 19:47.
The teams traded scoring chances early in the OT. Elliott made the aforementioned breakaway save on Zegras before Stolarz denied a Kucherov attempt. Shortly thereafter, Point wired a pass up to Killorn, who had gotten behind the three Anaheim skaters. Killorn tucked a forehand past Stolarz, but the play was immediately reviewed. In the second period, Killorn had scored from the slot, but the goal was taken away due to Brandon Hagel being offside. Similarly, this OT goal came off the board. The officials ruled that Killorn's back skate narrowly preceded the puck across the blue line.
It didn't matter. Exactly sixty seconds later, the Lightning won it. Killorn took the puck from behind the Anaheim net to the front, where he drew the attention of Cam Fowler, Terry, and Stolarz. That left Cirelli open at the side of the net. Killorn slid the puck to him and Cirelli swept it in.
The Lightning had been happy with their defensive play over the past several games. They dipped from that standard in the second period and saw a two-goal lead turn into a one-goal deficit. But they rebounded well in the third and got rewarded. The win secured a postseason berth for the Lightning, who will continue to hone their game over the final eight contests of the regular season.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
1. Alex Killorn - Lightning. Goal, assist.
2. Nikita Kucherov - Lightning. Goal.
3. Ryan Getzlaf - Ducks. Two assists.