Lightning 6, Panthers 5 (OT)
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Benoit Pouliot scored 1:19 into overtime to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 6-5 victory over the Florida Panthers on Saturday in a battle between Florida's slumping NHL teams.
Teddy Purcell was the Lightning's hero in regulation, scoring his fourth goal of the season with 12 seconds left to force overtime. Steven Stamkos and Nate Thompson got the assists.
The high-scoring Lightning snapped a six-game losing streak, never leading in any of those games.
Tampa Bay (7-6-1) has 15 points, which ties for eighth place in the Eastern Conference and is in the fight for that last playoff spot.
The Panthers, who blew a 5-3 lead in the final minutes, have lost four in a row and have 12 points.
Florida, shut out at home, 1-0, by Montreal on Thursday, wasted little time getting on the board on Saturday. Center Shawn Matthias scored on a tip-in 48 seconds into the game. Winger Jack Skille and defenseman Mike Weaver got the assists.
Tampa tied it exactly four minutes later on the fourth goal of the season by Pouliot. Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis got assists.
With 6:51 elapsed in the first period, the Lightning got their first lead in more than two weeks as rookie center Alexander Killorn scored his first career NHL goal. Matt Carle got the assist.
Killorn, who played college hockey at Harvard, was Tampa's third-round pick in 2007. He got his first NHL assist on Sunday against the Rangers and closed a memorable week with his performance against Florida.
The Panthers started the second period the way they did the first, getting on the board with 2:27 elapsed. Skille got the goal, his second of the year. Matthias and Weaver, the same players who collaborated with Skille on the first goal, earned assists.
Stamkos, who led the NHL in goals last season, broke the tie with 3:42 elapsed in the second period, scoring on a backhander. It was his eighth goal of the season, and the assists went to forwards Cory Conacher and Purcell.
The Panthers tied the score, 3-3, with 4.2 seconds left in the second period as Jerred Smithson scored at point-blank range. It was his first goal of the season, and the assist went to Alex Kovalev.
The Panthers took a 4-3 lead with 1:53 elapsed in the third period on a rookie-to-rookie connection. Jonathan Huberdeau got the goal, his team-high sixth of the season, and Drew Shore earned the assist.
Florida's final goal came on a slapshot from Tomas Kopecky with 3:24 elapsed. It was his third of the season, and Stephen Weiss and Brian Campell got the assists.
Tampa got within a goal again on a score by Stamkos with 7:28 elapsed. It was his ninth of the season, and the assists were credited to Purcell and St. Louis.
It was only Tampa's second power-play goal on the road this season, compared to 13 at home.
Lightning goalie Anders Lindback, 24, who is in his first year as an NHL starter, earned the victory after he missed Thursday's scheduled start against the Capitals because of the flu.
Jose Theodore, who was sensational against Montreal on Thursday, wasn't as sharp this time and again took the loss.
NOTES: Forward Kris Versteeg, who led the Panthers last season with a career-high 23 goals, was scratched because of an upper-body injury. He was hurt when he was checked into the boards on Tuesday by Alex Ovechkin of Washington. Versteeg has one goal in seven games this season. ... Entering Saturday, the Panthers led the series with their in-state rivals, 55-40-10, but the Lightning had won the last three meetings by a combined score of 22-10, including a 5-2 victory on Jan. 29. ... Taking some edge off the rivalry, however, is the fact that the teams have never met in the playoffs. And both teams are currently on the outside of the eight spots that would make the Eastern Conference playoffs. ... Panthers coach Kevin Dineen on the rivalry with Tampa Bay: "We want to pound them every time we play them." ... The top Lightning players on the salary chart are forwards Vincent Lecavalier ($7.7 million), Steven Stamkos ($7.5 million) and Martin St. Louis ($5.6 million) and defenseman Matt Carle ($5.5 million). ... Leading the Panthers on the salary chart are defenseman Brian Campbell ($7.1 million) and forwards Tomas Fleischmann ($4.5 million) and Versteeg ($4.4 million). ... The Panthers are probably getting bargains with forward Stephen Weiss ($3.1 million) and goalie Jose Theodore ($1.5 million), but both players are unrestricted free agents after this season. ... Up next for the Lightning are home games Tuesday against Toronto and Thursday vs. Boston. ... The Panthers end their four-game home stand on Monday against Toronto and then go to Pennsylvania for games against the Flyers (Thursday) and Penguins (Friday).
