It was an emotional night at Amalie Arena. The Lightning honored Steven Stamkos with a stirring tribute video. Then Lightning fans expressed their appreciation and love with a standing ovation and chant of ‘STEVEN STAMKOS.’
As for the game itself, it was a contest that featured back-and-forth momentum swings. The Lightning had an outstanding first period, building a 2-0 lead. The Predators pushed back in the second and tied the game. In a scoreless third period, each team enjoyed strong segments of play, although the Lightning generated the better scoring chances. During overtime, the Lightning spent almost the entirety of the first two minutes defending without the puck. But eventually gained possession, and soon after, Nick Paul put home a Jake Guentzel centering feed to win the game.
The Lightning decisively controlled the opening period. The shots were misleading — just 11-9 in favor of Tampa Bay. Attempts were more reflective — 26-14 for the Lightning. Brayden Point opened the scoring at 9:49 when he cut to the front of the net and finished a nifty backhanded. Guentzel made the play possible by pressuring Dante Fabbro inside the Nashville blue line and forcing a turnover. In the period’s final minute, Point fed Mitchell Chaffee up the middle of the ice, and Chaffee converted on a breakaway. He snapped the puck over Juuse Saros’ glove.
Momentum shifted in the second period. The Lightning thought they had extended their lead on a Nikita Kucherov goal at 2:12, but the goal was waived off after Nashville’s successful offside challenge. Then the Preds received a power play at 8:56, and they applied consistent pressure. Nashville recorded three shots on goal and five shot attempts before Ryan O’Reilly converted a close-range shot at 10:19.
Less than two minutes later, the Lightning were shorthanded again. While they killed off this next penalty, they allowed the tying goal before the period ended. A slow line change from the Lightning allowed Preds to convert off the rush. Brady Skjei fed Stamkos up the right wing, and Stamkos slipped the puck forward to Gus Nyquist. Nyquist was in alone on Andrei Vasilevskiy, and he tied the game at 18:40.
Penalty trouble continued to plague the Lightning in the second period. They took their third minor of the frame with under seven seconds left, so the Preds began the third period on the power play with a chance to take their first lead of the night. Vasilevskiy registered three saves during the kill, however, keeping the game tied. Soon after, the LIghtning reestablished control. They created multiple scoring chances — several off odd-man rushes — and forced Saros to make difficult saves. Saros also stopped two point-blank Guentzel attempts during a Lightning power play. Much of the Lightning’s third-period pressure came in the first half of the frame, but Anthony Cirelli had a great look at the side of the net with under eight minutes left. Saros made back-to-back saves on Cirelli.
The Preds weren’t as dangerous as the Lightning in the third period, but in the second half of the period, they enjoyed several offensive-zone shifts. The Lightning hurt themselves with a handful of unforced icings. But they defended hard without the puck, so they kept the dangerous scoring chances to a minimum.
The Preds won the faceoff to begin overtime and didn’t give up the puck for almost two minutes. Point, Kucherov, and Victor Hedman were stuck on the ice for that entire time. But they hung in defensively and didn’t allow a shot on net. About a minute later, the puck was in the Nashville end and Paul had come on the ice. He disrupted two attempted Nashville outlets, helping the Lightning maintain possession in the offensive zone. After the second turnover, Guentzel skated to the right circle and wired the puck to Paul at the front of the net. Paul sticked it in at 3:22.
For Lightning fans, it was a memorable night. They welcomed back Stamkos and saw him contribute two assists for his club. But the home team still won the game.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
- Brayden Point — Lightning. Goal and assist.
- Jake Guentzel — Lightning. Two assists. 500 points in career.
- Nick Paul — Lightning. OT goal.
