Point scores twice for Lightning in OT victory against Panthers

Brayden Point scored his second goal of the game at 2:08 of overtime to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-2 win against the Florida Panthers at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Friday.

With the Lightning on a 4-on-3 power play, Steven Stamkos set up Point in front of the net, where he flipped it past Sergei Bobrovsky.
"We needed other guys to step up," Point said. "We've got one guy scoring the majority of our goals. We have guys that need to produce, and we're paid to do that."
Stamkos scored for the fifth straight game and had an assist, and Nikita Kucherov had two assists for Tampa Bay (2-3-0), which lost its previous two games. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 35 saves.
"It's always a tough night against these guys, it's always a fun game," Point said. "They are fast games with tight checking. It's nice to get a win."

Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and an assist, and Rudolfs Balcers scored for Florida (3-1-1). Bobrovsky made 29 saves.
"It was a good game," Bobrovsky said. "I thought it was tight, but unfortunately we didn't get the two points. We get the one and we'll move on."
Stamkos gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 13:04 of the first period when he one-timed a pass from Kucherov in the left face-off circle.
It was Stamkos' seventh goal of the season. He also has two assists during a five-game point streak.
"We've been struggling a bit early, so to get a good win against a good team like that is hopefully something that can kick start some momentum for us moving forward," Stamkos said. "We just wanted to go out, play hard and whatever happens, happens. You do that and you get rewarded."

Tkachuk tied it 1-1 at 15:48 on a redirection from Brandon Montour at the edge of the crease.
"I think everyone can see it," Montour said. "At 5-on-5, we're the better team."
Balcers gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead at 15:37 of the second period when he took control of a loose puck in front and backhanded it past Vasilevskiy.
"A lot of good things we can build off in our game," Florida coach Paul Maurice said. "Both teams found their way to the box. We needed more discipline, but we have to play with energy. We're still learning how to do that."
Point tied it 2-2 at 9:29 of the third period on a redirection from Kucherov in front of the net.
"It was a typical Tampa-Florida game," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "It had everything, but our special teams were big tonight. I think that was the difference. I just liked our fight in the third."
NOTES: Tkachuk, who was acquired in a trade with the Calgary Flames on July 22, is the first player in Panthers history to get a point in each of their first five games to start a season. He leads Florida with eight points (three goals, five assists). … Seven of the Lightning's 14 goals this season have been scored on the power play. … Florida has failed to convert its past 12 power-play opportunities and is 2-for-23. … Montour, who missed the previous two games with an upper-body injury, had two assists in 23:18 of ice time.