Stamkos scores in OT, Lightning beat Hurricanes 4-3

TAMPA, Fla. -- — Steven Stamkos scored a power-play goal 52 seconds into overtime and had two regulation assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 on Tuesday night.

Stamkos got the winner from the slot off Nikita Kucherov's third assist of the game. The center reached 30 goals for the seventh time, breaking a tie with Martin St. Louis for most in franchise history.

Alex Killorn, Victor Hedman and Brayden Point also scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 16 saves for the Lightning.

The Lightning covered three of four man-advantage chances. Carolina went 0 for 2 on the power play.

“Obviously a big part of tonight's win was the power play and the penalty kill,” Stamkos said. “That's a really good team over there, and they've got good special teams as well. That was the difference-maker tonight."

Carolina got goals from Nino Niederreiter, Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho, and Antti Raanta stopped 28 shots. The Hurricanes were coming off a 6-1 win over Washington on Monday night and a 7-2 road victory Saturday against St. Louis.

“I could tell first shift we were gassed,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Guys tried their hardest but we were so slow on everything. To have a chance to win the game, I think give credit to Rans, (he) kind of held us in there.”

Tampa Bay rallied from its third one-goal deficit when Point scored on the rebound to make it 3-3 at 6:02 of the third as the Lightning picked up their second power-play goal on three chances against the Hurricanes' top-ranked penalty-kill unit.

“We responded well,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “We were down pretty much all game until the end. So, you've got to keep fighting your way back and not getting frustrated, and I thought we did that.”

Raanta made a nifty glove save on Point 30 seconds after the center's goal. He also turned aside Corey Perry's backhander during a 2-on-1 with 3 minutes to go in the third.

Aho gave Carolina a 3-2 lead on his 30th goal, a waist-line deflection of Tony DeAngelo’s backhander with 3:13 left in the second. He has three 30-goal seasons over the last four years.

After Jarvis scored on a calf-high redirection of Teuvo Teravainen’s pass at 8:41 of the second, Hedman pulled the Lightning even at 2-all just over a minute later.

Hedman has a career-high 19 goals, including eight in his last 12 games.

Niederreiter opened the scoring on the Hurricanes’ first shot at 7:59 of the first.

Killorn tied it at 1 from the low left circle during a power play 52 seconds into the second.

NUMBERS

Stamkos moved past Pat LaFontaine into sole possession of 56th place all-time with his 469th goal. ... Stamkos has 11 overtime goals. most in team history. ... Kucherov has one goal in his last 14 games. ... Aho has a five-game point streak. ... Perry has no goals in his last 11 games.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Carolina center Jesperi Kotkaniemi didn’t play after getting hurt Monday night. Kotkaniemi could not put weight on his left leg after a penalized hit by Washington’s Lars Eller with 1.8 seconds left. Brind’Amour said Kotkaniemi will be re-examined Wednesday, but is hopeful he won’t miss an extended period.

THEN AND NOW

The Lightning returned home after playing 10 of 11 games on the road. They went 5-6 over the stretch, including a 5-5 record away from home. Tampa Bay started a run that has 11 of 13 games at home.

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: Host Montreal on Thursday night.

Lightning: Host Chicago on Friday night.

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