Lightning Overcome Two-Goal Deficit to Beat Canucks

The Tampa Bay Lightning overcame a two-goal deficit Saturday afternoon to beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 at Benchmark International Arena.

Linus Karlsson gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead at 15:32 of the first period, scoring on a slap shot from the top of the right circle. Elias Pettersson extended the lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal at 4:35 of the second period.

Nikita Kucherov got the Lightning on the board at 6:30, scoring on the power play after Kevin Lankinen stopped his initial shot. Kucherov collected the rebound at the right circle to cut Vancouver’s lead to 2-1.

The power-play unit featured a new addition Saturday in defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous as Tampa Bay looked for a spark on the man advantage. The Lightning went 0-for-3 against Seattle on Thursday and entered Saturday’s game with a 7.4% success rate.

"It was my first game with the guys, but we practiced yesterday a little bit,” said D’Astous. “Even if it was my first time, I've been playing power play my whole life almost, so I know what to do and I've been watching.“

With the power play struggling this season, head coach Jon Cooper said it was time to try something different.

“We were 32nd in the league. It was time to try some new things, we didn't get many chances, but I thought they made the best of it.”

Kucherov tied the game 2-2 at 11:23 of the second period, scoring from the left side after Brayden Point won the faceoff.

Cooper liked Kucherov's willingness to shoot, which paid off with two goals.

“He's really got that shooter’s mentality going on right now, and I love it. That's how pucks go in the net, especially for guys like him. I was a little bummed that the one from center ice didn't go in, it would have been pretty cool to see the hats come down. But I like the shooting mentality he's got going on right now. It's great."

The Lightning carried that momentum into the third period, with Jake Guentzel putting Tampa Bay ahead 3-2 at 2:04. His shot from the point deflected off Liam Ohgren’s stick and caught Lankinen out of position.

Pontus Holmberg added an insurance goal at 15:57 to seal the win. After Zemgus Girgensons won an offensive-zone faceoff, Holmberg took the puck, skated in front of the net and scored to make it 4-2.

The Lightning will now hit the road for a three-game trip, starting in Vegas before playing back-to-back games in Colorado and Utah.