Steven Stamkos tied it 4-4 with five seconds left, and Brandon Hagel scored in overtime for Tampa Bay, stealing the win from the Boston Bruins.
The Boston Bruins were five seconds away from earning a 4-3 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but Steven Stamkos forced overtime with five seconds left, and Brandon Hagel won it at 1:19 in the extra frame to secure the 5-4 comeback win at Amalie Arena on Monday.
Leading 4-3 and facing a 6-on-4 penalty kill with Johnny Beecher in the box for high-sticking, and Tampa Bay goalie Jonas Johansson pulled for an extra skater, the Bruins failed to clear the puck out of their zone, and even though the penalty expired, Stamkos managed to tie the game 4-4 with a one-timer off Nikita Kucherov's backhand pass.
Afterwards, Hagel got behind the defense at 3-on-3 to get a clean look on Jeremy Swayman, securing the win for Tampa Bay just over a minute into overtime.
David Pastrnak led Boston with two points (a goal and an assist), and Jeremy Swayman made 42 saves for the Bruins (14-1-3), who lost the first game of their ‘Dad’s Trip.’
Tanner Jeannot struck first for the Lightning at 6:39 of the first period, with Tyler Motte getting behind Charlie McAvoy and skating the puck into Swayman’s pads, and Jeannot followed up to cash in the rebound.
Pavel Zacha nearly tied it at 7:32 of the first with a chance right in front of the goal, but it rang off the post and out, but he converted his next chance at 9:55, receiving the puck from Pastrnak at the net front for the easy shot following a Lightning defensive zone turnover.
The Bruins had to kill off four penalties in the second period, including a 5-on-3 for 1:33, and succeeded in fending off all but the final chance, when Nicholas Paul gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead with just 30 seconds remaining in the frame.
After establishing possession in Boston’s zone, the Lightning worked the puck up to Mikhail Sergachev at the point, whose shot connected with Paul’s stick and tipped past Swayman.
Pastrnak tied it 2-2 at 6:26 of the third period, firing off Mason Lohrei’s feed from the high slot, and Beecher gave Boston a 3-2 lead 1:21 later. With gritty second efforts from Danton Heinen and Brandon Carlo to keep the puck in the zone, the puck found Beecher with space behind the right circle.
Austin Watson tied it 3-3 for Tampa Bay at 8:44, one-timing Anthony Cirelli’s behind-the-net pass.
Charlie Coyle made it 4-3 at 16:09 of the third period, snapping in James van Riemsdyk’s behind-the-net pass from the slot.
The Bruins will face the Florida Panthers on Wednesday at Amerant Bank Arena, with puck drop at 7 p.m.