Panthers 5, Lightning 4 (SO)
TAMPA, Fla. -- Brandon Pirri scored the only goal in the shootout to lead the Florida Panthers to a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night at Amalie Arena.
Despite giving up four goals in regulation, Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo came up big in overtime and stopped all three Lightning shooters in the shootout.
Overtime didn't look like a possibility after the Lightning took a 4-3 lead and was just seconds from victory. But Tampa Bay right winger Ryan Callahan took a delay-of-game penalty with 43 seconds left and the Panthers won the ensuing faceoff in Lightning territory. The puck slid right to Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who one-timed a wrist shot past Lightning goalie Ben Bishop to tie the score at 4 and send the game to overtime.
In the three-on-three overtime, Lightning center Steven Stamkos had a chance to win it with a penalty shot, but Luongo stopped him. Luongo then stopped defenseman Victor Hedman, center Brian Boyle and center Valtteri Filppula in the shootout.
For two teams that haven't been scoring many goals lately, the Lightning and Panthers didn't have trouble finding their marks.
Tampa Bay center Vladislav Namestnikov hadn't scored a goal in 10 games but made his coach look like a genius for promoting him to the top line this week, scoring twice, including the goal that put the Lightning in front 4-3 at 9:56.
After a first period of near-misses and a 1-1 tie at intermission, the second period was explosive as the teams traded goals in a flurry of action, starting with Tampa Bay just 62 seconds in.
The Lightning went ahead 2-1 when Stamkos, just outside the left circle, found Namestnikov with a short pass and he drifted in for a shot on Luongo for his fourth goal of the season.
The Panthers evened the score less than two minutes later when center Nick Bjugstad gathered a loose puck and skated in on Bishop, made one move and flicked a shot over his glove side for his sixth goal of the season and a 2-2 tie at 2:39 of the second.
Pirri gave the Panthers the 3-2 lead at 4:47 when he converted a penalty shot, finding space between Bishop's legs for his third goal of the season.
The Lightning struck three minutes later as Hedman wound up from the point and banged a shot off Luongo's pads to defenseman Anton Stralman, who punched in the rebound for his first goal of the season.
NOTES: Panthers C Aleksander Barkov returned to practice Friday and was on the ice for the morning skate Saturday. But eventually the decision was made to keep Barkov out for the 10th straight game. Barkov has been out since injuring a hand blocking a shot on Oct. 22, and Saturday was the 10th straight game he has missed. ... Panthers D Steven Kampfer and LW Shawn Thornton were scratches. ... Tampa Bay Lightning D Matt Taormina was a scratch, after being called up from Syracuse of the American Hockey League Friday when D Nikita Nesterov was sent down. ... Panthers RW Jaromir Jagr broke a tie with Nicklas Lidstrom, playing in his 1,5645th game for 10th all time. Ray Bourque, with 1,612 games played, is at No. 9. ... The Lightning and Panthers played the first of a home-and-home set. The Lightning will travel roughly 250 miles south for the rematch on Tuesday.