Lightning 5, Penguins 4 (OT)
TAMPA, Fla. -- Center Vladislav Namestnikov got his first career hat trick in dramatic fashion, scoring his third goal with 2:49 left in overtime to help the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night at Amalie Arena.
Namestnikov, who entered the game with six goals all season, scored the winner after the Lightning saw a 3-1 lead turn into a 4-3 deficit with six minutes left in the game.
Just when it looked like the Lightning were about let a third-period lead slip away, defenseman Anton Stralman made a spin move and scored the tying goal with 4:39 left, killing momentum after Pittsburgh rallied for two goals to take the lead.
Stralman's fifth goal of the season saw him skate into the Pittsburgh zone, spin past a defender and fire a shot past Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to tie the score.
Pittsburgh scored twice in a span of four minutes to rally for the lead, getting a goal with 9:47 left from defenseman Trevor Daley -- his second of the season -- and then the go-ahead goal from left winger Chris Kunitz with 6:12 to play.
The Lightning led 3-2 entering the third period. They were 14-1 when leading after two periods and Pittsburgh had been 2-14-2 when they trailed after two.
While the teams had generally avoided third-period drama this season, they both had their share Friday night.
The Lightning led 3-2 entering the third, scoring two power-play goals after getting two five-on-three opportunities after three penalties in a span of 68 seconds, two by center Matt Cullen.
Tampa Bay needed only 23 seconds of five-on-three to take a 2-1 lead on center Valtteri Filppula's sixth goal of the season, off a pass from center Tyler Johnson for his ninth assist.
Less than a minute later, Cullen's second penalty created another five-on-three, and while the Penguins killed off the double advantage, the Lightning struck again with seven seconds left on the regular power play as defenseman Victor Hedman fired a long shot from the blue line that was redirected for his second goal of the night and eighth of the season.
Pittsburgh pulled within a goal before the second period ended, with right winger Patric Hornqvist scoring a power play through the legs of Lightning backup goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy with 5:37 left in the period. Tampa Bay held onto the 3-2 lead despite a 19-13 shooting edge by the Penguins.
The teams traded goals in the first period, with Namestnikov giving the Lightning a 1-0 lead just 1:51 into the game with a shot to the top-right corner of the net past Fleury.
That lead only held until 9:23 was left in the first period when defenseman Kris Letang grabbed a loose puck off a faceoff in the Lightning zone and beat Vasilevskiy to the near post to tie the score at 1 with his sixth goal of the season.
NOTES: The Lightning, winners of three straight, stuck with a lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen as they did in Tuesday's 4-0 win over the Avalanche, making C Jonathan Marchessault and RW Erik Condra healthy scratches. ... The Penguins recalled rookie F Conor Sheary from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he was leading the AHL with 26 assists. He was scheduled to play with the third line at right wing. ... Pittsburgh had four healthy scratches with D Adam Clendening, D David Warsofsky, C Nick Bonino and LW Sergei Plotnikov. ... The Lightning returned home for four games. The Penguins finished a four-game road swing and headed home to face the Hurricanes on Sunday.