The Tampa Bay Lightning felt a sense of déjà vu Saturday night with the Toronto Maple Leafs scoring two goals in the third period to force overtime before John Tavares netted the game-winning goal 4:05 into the extra frame to hand the Bolts a 4-3 loss.
The Lightning moved to 2-2-2 on the season with a home record of 2-0-1.
After Auston Matthews hit the post early for Toronto, the Leafs jumped out to a 1-0 lead shortly after with William Nylander beating Jonas Johansson for his fourth goal of the season 4:16 into the first period.
Matthew Knies was sent to the penalty box for cross-checking 1:54 later, putting Tampa Bay on the power play for the first time of the game, and it did not take long for the Bolts to capitalize.
Just 16 seconds into the man advantage, Victor Hedman sent he puck to Nikita Kucherov before he quickly exchanged passes with Brayden Point and wired a quick shot past the blocker of Ilya Samsonov to even the score at 1-1.
The Lightning grabbed the lead 3:48 later when Kucherov took another pass from Point in the offensive zone and quickly sent the puck to the back door, where Alex Barre-Boulet was waiting to redirect a shot right through the legs of Samsonov and give Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead with 9:56 remaining in the opening period.
Kucherov added his third point of the period 3:25 later when the Lightning went back on the power play and scored just four seconds into the man advantage to make it a 3-1 game. Following a faceoff win by Nick Paul, Steven Stamkos sent the puck back to the point for Mikhail Sergachev, who put a pass right in the wheelhouse of Kucherov, allowing him to rip a one-timer past Samsonov to push the lead to two goals.
With neither team finding a way to score in the second period, the Bolts went into the third with a two-goal lead and were playing well for the first half of the frame. But after Matthew Knies got Toronto back within one with 7:49 left in the third period, things started to break down.
Knies tied the game just 2:22 after he got the Leafs back within one, capitalizing on a 2-on-1 off a pass from Max Domi to force overtime. From there, the Lightning were unable to record a shot on goal and barely held any possession, similar to the overtime loss in Buffalo.
Toronto outshot Tampa Bay 5-0 in overtime with Tavares scoring the game-winning goal with 55 seconds remaining.
Jonas Johansson was very strong between the pipes for the Lightning, finishing the game with a career-high 48 saves in the loss.
Bolts Quotes
Jon Cooper on what needs to change in 3-on-3 overtime: "I either gotta change the way we do it or I gotta change the guys I put out there."
Jon Cooper on losing the two-goal lead in the third period: “It's disappointing the way that players handled the last half of the third period and overtime. We're much better than that. Give Toronto a ton of credit. They did what you have to do to get points in a hockey game. They played the whole 60 minutes-plus and we didn't.”
Jon Cooper on the end of the game: “You saw the intensity of the game elevate when the score got tied. Then, everybody was really, really engaged and we almost scored the winner at the end there. But, why did it take them to tie it for us to get to that point? Something we have to learn as a team."
Mikhail Sergachev on the 3-on-3: "You have to kind of be pushing them. Try to keep them to the outside and skate. We tried to do that, but as I said, they're great players and they make plays...When we had the puck, we definitely didn't do a good job and gave it back to them. We have to be a little bit more patient."
Bolts by the Numbers
Nikita Kucherov recorded the 15th three-point period of his career, one shy of the Lightning franchise record held by Martin St. Louis.
Steven Stamkos now has points in 16 of his last 20 games vs. Toronto (6-24—30), including seven straight (2-9—11). He’s picked up points in 22 of his 25 career home games against the Leafs (10-23—33).
The Lightning’s two power-play goals required only 21 seconds of power-play time, the third-fastest time between two power-play goals in franchise history.
Nikita Kucherov (6-3—9) is tied for the NHL lead in goals and ranks tied for third in points.
Krenner’s Three Stars
Jonas Johansson
Matthew Knies
Nikita Kucherov
Lightning Look Ahead
Tuesday, October 24 vs. Carolina Hurricanes, 7 p.m. ET, AMALIE Arena
Thursday, October 26 vs. San Jose Sharks, 7 p.m. ET, AMALIE Arena
Monday, October 30 vs. Seattle Kraken, 7 p.m. ET, AMALIE Arena
