Stamkos helps Lightning recover to defeat Blue Jackets

TAMPA-- Steven Stamkos scored in the third round of the shootout to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 5-4 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Amalie Arena on Saturday.

The Tampa Bay captain took a tripping penalty in overtime to give Columbus a 4-on-3 advantage.
"You can go from hero to goat pretty quick if they score on that dumb penalty I took," Stamkos said. "Obviously a lot of thanks to the penalty kill] and [Andrei Vasilevskiy] with some huge saves."
***[WATCH: [All Blue Jackets vs. Lightning highlights]*
Stamkos was 8-for-37 in the shootout, but Lightning coach Jon Cooper said he felt like he was due.
"I think he was down on himself [over the penalty]," Cooper said. "I was hoping he was going to go out there and snipe it."
Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Yanni Gourde scored for the Lightning (11-2-2), who had a 4-2 lead in the third period. Vasilevskiy made 30 saves and three in the shootout.

"We'll definitely take the win, but we've got to close out games better," Stamkos said. "I think we sat back too much. When you have a two-goal lead at home in the third it should be automatic."
Seth Jones, Zach Werenski, Markus Hannikainen and Brandon Dubinsky scored for the Blue Jackets (9-4-1). Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves.
Kucherov's NHL-leading 14th goal gave the Lightning a 2-1 lead at 3:32 of the first period. He sent a one-timer past Bobrovsky off a cross-ice pass from Mikhail Sergachev.
Werenski tied it 2-2 at 10:55 of the first period. Pierre-Luc DuBois tracked the puck in the corner and passed to Werenski below the hash marks.

Stamkos gave Tampa Bay a 3-2 lead with a power-play goal at 6:20 of the second period from the left face-off circle. Kucherov set up the goal with a cross-ice pass.
Gourde made it 4-2 at 18:01 of the second period when he converted a pass from Killorn from the hash marks.
Hannikainen got Columbus within 4-3 when he scored on a wraparound that snuck by Vasilevskiy at 9:46 of the third period.
Dubinsky tied the game at 4-4 with his first goal of the season at 11:45 off a rebound.
"Hopefully this opens the gate a little bit for me," Dubinsky said. "The points mean the most, so I'm not sitting here through the roof happy about it. Maybe if we had scored on that power play I'd be smiling a lot more."

Jones gave Columbus a 1-0 lead at 2:30 of the first period when the puck deflected off the stick of Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman.
"Anytime you're down two goals in the third period against a team like this is tough," Jones said. "But we made them play defense and it paid off in the third. I wish we could have found a way to put it away in overtime for two points, but we'll take it."
Point made it 1-1 at 2:54 of the first, his seventh goal of the season.
"We want to be a team that bounces back after tough games," Hedman said. "We know when we're not at our best and can still win games, but we want to [play] strong at every opportunity."

Goal of the game

Kucherov's goal at 3:32 of the first period.

Save of the game

Vasilevskiy on Ryan Murray at 18:34 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Stamkos' game-winner in the shootout.

They said it

"I'm greedy, I think we have an opportunity on the 4-on-3 and [Vasilevskiy] makes just a great save on [Artemi Panarin] and we have a chance to win the game. He makes some key saves there. That's when we need our key guys to make a play to score a goal, that's what is a little frustrating for me." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella
"It's a 5-4 game and you're kind of pleased with the way your team played defensively. I never thought I'd say that. I used to say if you keep a team under two it's a good chance you win the game, but that number might be going up a bit." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper

Need to know

Kucherov played his 300th NHL game. He has 257 points (122 goals, 135 assists). ... Blue Jackets forward Matt Calvert left the game in the third period after a collision with Lightning defenseman Dan Girardi.

What's next

Blue Jackets: At the New York Rangers on Monday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, FS-O, NHL.TV)
Lightning: At the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV)