Flyers rally for third straight win, spoil Lightning home opener

TAMPA -- Noah Cates broke a tie in the third period, and the Philadelphia Flyers rallied to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 at Amalie Arena on Tuesday.

Cates retrieved the puck after a turnover by Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak and scored from the high slot to make it 3-2.
"I thought we had a good shift before that, so I knew their [defense] was a little bit tired," Cates said. "I think they were just kind of flapping in front of their net and I was coming in pretty hard. I got a stick on it, found it, and swung around and shot it."
Carter Hart made 36 saves for the Flyers (3-0-0), who rallied to win for the third straight game.
"We're just trying to get a win, it doesn't matter who we're playing or who's in the opposing goal," Hart said. "My job is to stop the puck and our job as a team is to win hockey games. This was a big win for us tonight."

Steven Stamkos scored two power-play goals and Nikita Kucherov had two assists for the Lightning (1-3-0), who lost their home opener for the second straight season. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 21 saves.
"This is a stinger, we should never leave this game with zero points," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "We probably should have left with two. It happens in this game. It happens when you play 82 games. Unfortunately, it's happening to us a lot early in this season, but this group should close that game out."
Stamkos gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 1:25 of the second period when he connected on a one-timer from the left face-off circle off a pass from Vladislav Namestnikov. It was his fifth goal of the season.
Stamkos made it 2-0 at 4:12 with his second power-play goal, another one-timer from the left circle off a cross-ice pass from Kucherov.
He has seven points (six goals, one assist) in four games.
"I think we just lacked some urgency," Stamkos said. "We can't take for granted that what we've done in the past with leads, especially on home ice, that everyone can fall back and it will be ok. It's got to be urgent hockey. We have to make safe, sound plays. We definitely made some uncharacteristic plays in that regard."

Scott Laughton cut it to 2-1 at 10:43 off a rebound after a shot from Egor Zamula deflected off Vasilevskiy's pad.
"We worked hard and found a way to win," Laughton said. "It definitely feels good. It's a tough building to play in, but we found our legs. Sometimes it's going to be ugly."
James van Riemsdyk tied it 2-2 with a power-play goal at 1:06 of the third period, a redirection off a shot from the point by Kevin Hayes.
"Playing the key minutes at key times, that's what wins you games," Flyers coach John Tortorella said. "And you need to have really good goaltending. Carter was outstanding. He kept us in it, and we found a way at the end."

NOTES: John Tortorella is the second coach in Flyers history to win his first three games (Paul Holmgren, 4-0-0, 1988-89). ... The Flyers had lost 10 straight to the Lightning. ... Stamkos scored his 185th power-play goal to move past Jeremy Roenick for 25th in NHL history. ... Tampa Bay forward Corey Perry had a game-high eight shots on goal. … Zaumla, playing his 15th NHL game, had the primary assist on Laughton's goal for his first NHL point. ... Lightning defenseman Nick Perbix played 13:35 in his NHL debut. He was minus-1 with three shots. ... Flyers forward Zack MacEwen had three shots and a game-high seven hits in 13:30 in his season debut. … Philadelphia's third straight comeback victory to start a season ties its record from 1988-89 and 1992-93.