Lightning Overcome Slow Start to Earn Overtime Win Against Wild

The Lightning have been tough to beat at home this season, owning the best home record in the NHL with an 8-0-0 record at Benchmark International Arena. Now, they're looking to carry that success over to the road.

Tampa Bay opened a four-game road trip Saturday night against the Minnesota Wild, a building they’ve struggled with in the past. Minnesota was coming off a 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks on Friday.

A slow line change allowed Blake Coleman to open the scoring just 55 seconds into the game. The Lightning found themselves down by two goals when Max Shabanov scored on the power play at the 2:58 mark after Tampa Bay was called for too many men on the ice.

The team started to settle in after that, outshooting the Wild, 34-22.

Forward Scott Sabourin fought Minnesota’s Marcus Foligno, and the game started to turn in the Lightning’s favor. The line of Sabourin, Jeff Viel and Conor Geekie gave Tampa Bay the spark they needed.

"I thought the Geekie, Sabourin, Viel line kind of changed the game,” Jon Cooper said. “When they started going in that first period, I think our team kind of jumped on board. So, I've gotta give those guys a ton of credit."

The Lightning finally broke through late in the second period when Charle-Édouard D’Astous found Jake Guentzel on the power play. Guentzel finished the night with two goals and an assist.

D’Astous later scored Tampa Bay’s third goal to tie the game at 3-3 and send it into overtime. The Lightning finished 3-for-6 on the power play, having one of their best games with the man advantage this season.

"Definitely not the start we wanted, but the good thing about it was we still had 57 minutes to play. I think we bounced back pretty good after that,” said D’Astous. “After those three minutes, I think we were the best team on the ice. Huge comeback. It was a good game for us."

Jon Cooper sent Zemgus Girgensons out to take the faceoff on the power play, and he won possession for the Lightning. Nikita Kucherov then sealed the overtime win with the team's third power-play goal of the night.

Notably, Kucherov accounted for 20 of Tampa Bay’s 83 shot attempts.

“It’s a big one for us,” said Guentzel. “That’s a good team over there. They don’t give up too much, so whenever you can come on the road and get a win, it’s huge.”

The Lightning will wrap up the back-to-back tonight when they visit the Winnipeg Jets at 6 p.m.