With the Lightning power play efficiently moving the puck around the offensive zone, Steven Stamkos took a pass from Kucherov and hammered a one-timer off the cross bar. After a scramble in front of the net, the puck squeaked out to Kucherov, who quickly fired a shot on goal that beat Ullmark to make it a 2-0 game.
The multi-goal advantage didn’t last long for the Bolts when Charlie McAvoy scored just 58 seconds later, ripping a shot from the point that made its way through traffic and beat Andrei Vasilevskiy to shrink the Tampa Bay lead to 2-1 with 17:56 remaining in the middle frame.
As the second period neared an end, the Bruins got an equalizer off the stick of James van Riemsdyk, who jumped on a loose puck in front of the net and jammed it into the back of the net with a delayed penalty set to be called on the Lightning.
With the score even at 2-2, the Bolts penalty kill was put to the test in the third period with Tampa Bay taking three minor penalties over the final 20 minutes. Entering the contest with the 10th-best power play in the NHL, the Bruins were unable to find the back of the net with the man advantage and the game advanced to overtime.
After neither team was able to score in the extra frame, the contest was set to be decided in a shootout. Following a sharp performance between the pipes for the first 65 minutes of the game, Vasilevskiy continued his excellent play in the shootout, stopping attempts from Jake DeBrusk, Charlie Coyle and David Pastrnak.
Needing only one goal in the shootout, Tampa Bay got the game-deciding tally off the stick of Brayden Point in the second round. Skating in with speed, Point made a move to his forehand and beat Ullmark with the lone goal of the shootout.
Vasilevskiy finished the night with 36 saves on 38 shots for his 18th win of the season. The Lightning earned four points on the four-game road trip and will return home for a four-game homestand that begins with a matchup against the Colorado Avalanche Thursday night.
Bolts by the Numbers
- Brandon Hagel recorded the primary assist on Erik Cernak’s game-opening goal and extended his point streak to seven games, the longest point streak of his career. Hagel has picked up 11 points over the seven-game span (6-5—11) and has logged 19 points since the start of 2024 (9-10—19), the second-most among all Lightning skaters behind only Nikita Kucherov (7-21—28).
- Erik Cernak scored his first goal of the season with Tampa Bay’s first shot on goal at the 3:21 mark of the first period. Cernak’s goal was the 82nd point of his career (19-63—82), moving him past Milan Jurcina and giving him sole possession of the sixth-most points by a Slovakian defenseman in NHL history.
- Anthony Cirelli picked up the secondary assist on Erik Cernak’s first goal of the season andhas now found the scoresheet in six of his last seven games (1-7—8).
- Nikita Kucherov scored his 34th goal of the season and became the first player in the NHL to hit the 90-point mark (34-56—90). Kucherov joined Connor McDavid as the only two active players to record 90 points in 53 or fewer games. Over the past 30 years, the only players to reach 90 points in 53 or fewer games are Kucherov, McDavid, Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Wayne Gretzky. Kucherov extended his point streak to eight games (6-11—17) and recorded his 39th power-play point of the season, the most among all NHL skaters.
- Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves on 38 shots against to improve to 18-11-0 on the season. Vasilevskiy is 9-2-0 over his last 11 starts. His 17 wins since December 1 are tied for the most among all NHL goaltenders during that span.
- Brayden Point scored the game-deciding shootout goal, his ninth since entering the league in 2016-17. The nine game-deciding goals are tied for the most in the NHL during that span (also: Connor McDavid, Sean Couturier, Vincent Trocheck, Matt Duchene).
Bolts Quotes
- Jon Cooper: “You’ve got to tip your cap to the penalty kill. They were huge for us tonight. Then, the Big Cat was the Big Cat. He saved our skin a couple times, especially in overtime there.”
- Brayden Point on the battles vs. the Bruins: “They’re great. They’ve had a good team for a long time, and we’ve had a lot of really good games over my time here. It’s always fun to play them. They’re a skilled group. They work hard. They have good structure. They’re fun games. They’re tough to win, but I’m glad we did tonight.”
- Victor Hedman on the battles vs. the Bruins: “They’re phenomenal. They’re a tremendous team and have been since I got into this league. It’s always been great games. Personnel has changed, but some of the guys are still over there. Congrats to Marchy (Brad Marchand) on 1,000 games today. I’ve been battling against him for a very, very long time. Great milestone. Always fun games in a hostile environment. We love playing here.”
- Hedman on the win: “It’s huge. This is the time of the year when you need points. Coming into this barn, it’s a tough place to play. Coming out of here with two points is big for us.”
- Cooper on the battles vs. the Bruins: “This is a team we’ve played in the playoffs before. Some of my most memorable games, whether what side of the ledger we were on, have been against the Bruins. I’ve been in the league for a decade here. There’s a bunch of guys on their team that we’ve seen over the years, and we’ve had this core group. Playing the Bruins, it’s a ton of fun. You know something’s going to happen in the game and it always does. Pretty fitting this one went to a shootout.”
