Dominic James scored the deciding goal in the fifth round of a shootout and Nikita Kucherov scored in the shootout and regulation as the Tampa Bay Lightning remained hot with a 2-1 win against the host Chicago Blackhawks on Friday.
Tampa Bay has earned a point in 15 straight games, the third-longest streak in club history.
Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 17 shots in regulation and overtime while Blackhawks counterpart Arvid Soderblom had 30 saves on 31 shots.
Tampa Bay was unable to convert a series of chances in the closing moments of regulation.
Chicago dictated the pace in overtime (four shots to one) but didn’t score. After Ilya Mikheyev forced a turnover, Andre Burakovsky couldn’t stuff a rebound into the net after the puck got behind Vasilevskiy in the crease. Nick Lardis sent a shot off the post less than a minute later.
Vasilevskiy saw little action throughout the night, as the Lightning limited the Blackhawks to four shots in the first period and six shots through two.
Chicago capitalized on a rare opportunity, however, as Ryan Greene took a drop pass from Lardis in the left circle before rushing the net and scoring on a wrist shot from the slot at 17:42 of the first period.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper challenged the play for offside but the call was upheld. The Blackhawks didn’t score on the ensuing power play for delay of game.
Soderblom turned aside Tampa Bay’s Gage Goncalves on a breakaway in the closing seconds. Goncalves hit the post with an open net earlier in the period.
Kucherov put the Lightning on the board at 18:42 of the second, as the visitors’ pressure broke through. Brandon Hagel fed Kucherov in front of the net and he beat Soderblom on the backhand.
Kucherov stretched his point streak to four games.
Both teams were 0-for-3 with the man advantage.
Hagel went to the Tampa Bay locker room with an apparent injury midway through the first period but returned shortly after.
Chicago’s Jason Dickinson returned to the lineup after missing Thursday’s shootout victory in Carolina with an illness.
Tampa Bay earned a split of the season series, avenging a 3-2 home loss on Oct. 23.
–Field Level Media
