Stamkos propels Lightning past Flyers in shootout

TAMPA -- Steven Stamkos had an NHL career-high five points to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 7-6 shootout win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Amalie Arena on Saturday.
Stamkos had two goals, including at 7:38 of the third period to tie it 5-5, and three assists. He had the primary assist on Victor Hedman's goal to make it 6-5 at 10:03 of the third period and scored in the shootout.

WATCH: [All Flyers vs. Lightning highlights]
"Anytime you're down a couple of goals in different parts of the game, especially in the third and you come back and win, it's emotional," Stamkos said. "It shows guys care. Guys never gave up. We got some big goals and stayed with it. Not perfect in a structural point of view, but really good in emotion and never-quit-attitude point of game."

Hedman had two goals and two assists to tie his NHL career high for points, and J.T. Miller and Dan Girardi scored for the Lightning (45-17-4), who lead the Boston Bruins by six points for first place in the Eastern Conference. Nikita Kucherov had three assists in his return to the lineup after missing the previous two games with an upper-body injury.
"It was fun for the fans, I'll tell you that," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "It's always fun when you win, and I just met a couple of kids who it was their first game, so I'm pretty sure they'll be back."
Nolan Patrick, Jakub Voracek, Robert Hagg, Jori Lehtera and Ivan Provorov scored for Philadelphia (34-20-11), which is two points behind the Washington Capitals for first place in the Metropolitan Division.

Brayden Point scored the shootout-deciding goal, his third in the past five games. The Lightning played five straight overtime games for the first time in their history.
Patrick gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 7:08 of the first period. Stamkos tied the game 1-1 with a power-play goal at 8:16.
Voracek put the Flyers ahead 2-1 at 14:30 of the first, and Hagg made it 3-1 at 18:07.
"Apparently we thought the game was at 2 p.m. today," Hedman said. "But there are two teams on the ice; they have been red hot as of late. They did a good job of getting puck out of hands early."
Hedman scored his first goal of the game to make it 3-2 at 5:57 of the second. Girardi tied it 3-3 with a shot from the point at 12:47.
"It's really good when your [defensemen] are in the play," Lightning forward Yanni Gourde said. "They're involved. They get pucks through. We get scoring chances at the net. We get rebounds off that. We just got to play as a unit of five."
Lehtera gave the Flyers a 4-3 lead at 16:15 of the second, and Provorov pushed the lead to 5-3 at 1:06 of the third.

"We know we didn't play well a couple of nights ago (4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes)," Flyers coach Dake Hakstol said. "It's not just about losses; it's about the overall performance. That wasn't us the other night and we knew we had to raise our level from where it was the other night. I thought our guys did that."
Miller, who was acquired in a trade from the New York Rangers on Monday, scored his first goal with the Lightning at 4:23 of the third to make it 5-4.
Giroux tied the game 6-6 with 2:53 left in the third.
"It's tough to be satisfied when you lose," Giroux said. "But they played a good game on the other side. Their goalie is pretty good; if he's not the best in the League, he's one of them. He made a lot of key saves."

Goal of the game

Stamkos' goal at 7:38 of the third period.

Save of the game

Vasilevskiy stopping Patrick at 8:59 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Giroux's goal at 17:07 of the third period.

They said it

"I think it was a really hard game for both goalies. I wish I could've stopped more. I have to do better in those games. Those are important points and the guys played great in front of me. We scored lots of goals. I need to be better." -- Flyers goalie Petr Mrazek
"That's the big thing with those guys, [Stamkos] and [Kucherov], the more they shoot, especially with the ability they have, it's just percentages, some of them are going to go. These were some big-time plays being made even before the shot, and when these guys are rolling you just have to keep putting them out there." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper

Need to know

Point has four game-deciding shootout goals this season and is 9-for-14 in the shootout in his NHL career. ... Mrazek is 1-8-2 against the Lightning in the regular season. ...Tampa Bay won after twice rallying from behind by multiple goals for the third time in its history.

What's next

Flyers:At the Florida Panthers on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; TVAS, FS-F, NBCSP, NHL.TV)
Lightning: Host the Florida Panthers on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; SUN, FS-F, NHL.TV)