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 He quickly made amends.
Palat buried the game-winner in Tuesday's 2-1 overtime triumph over
the Calgary Flames, a nice way to erase the memories of a giveaway
that had cost the Lightning a point only 24 hours earlier in
Edmonton.
"I knew I owed the team something -- a goal or a game-winning goal
... something," Palat said. "I'm really happy I could score for the
guys."
He might owe a thank-you to Lightning center Valtteri Filppula for
setting the stage for his overtime heroics.
The Lightning (4-2-1) were in danger of being swept in a
two-games-in-two-nights swing through Alberta, but Filppula scored
from inside the blue paint with just 2:16 remaining Tuesday to tie
it up and spoil Karri Ramo's shutout bid.
Palat would seal the victory with just two minutes to go in the
extra period, sliding a backhander behind Ramo after Anton
Stralman's initial shot.
"I think he's such an unnoticed player in this league, but so good,"
Lightning coach Jon Cooper said of Palat. "I don't know if there'd
be a coach in the league that would sit here and not want to take an
Ondrej Palat or have a guy like that on his team. He earns his
breaks, and he deserved that one tonight."
 Down the hall, the Flames (4-3-1) felt like they deserved Tuesday's
win, too.
"I think we played solidly," said Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman,
who had the lone goal for the hosts. "We got great goaltending
again. We had the lead, we just couldn't stretch it and get the
insurance goal. Then we had a little breakdown late, and against a
team like that, you have that one breakdown and they make you pay.
"We ended up getting the point. It's unfortunate we didn't get the
two, but it's a lesson learned for us."
Most of the sellout crowd of 19,289 at the Scotiabank Saddledome
likely headed home Tuesday talking about Flames rookie left winger
Johnny Gaudreau, the 2014 Hobey Baker Award winner who split two
defensemen before setting up Wideman for a power-play goal early in
the third period of Tuesday's loss to the Lightning.
The 21-year-old Gaudreau, who was a fourth-round selection of the
Flames in the 2011 draft and starred for three seasons at Boston
College, was a healthy scratch last Friday in Columbus but has a
goal and two assists in a pair of games since his one-game sit-down.
"I think we all knew Johnny could be a great gamebreaker. That's no
secret," Wideman said. "Whenever he has the puck in the offensive
zone, he can control the play and control the game. He made a great
play on that goal, but the end result is we didn't get what we
wanted."
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It seemed that Wideman's tally -- his third in a span of four games
-- would stand up as the winner, but Ramo didn't get all of
defenseman Jason Garrison's shot from the blueline and Filppula had
an easy finish from inside the crease.
Ramo robbed Lightning rookie Jonathan Drouin in overtime but
couldn't stop Palat. It was still a nice night for Drouin, who had
his first NHL point with an assist on Filppula's goal.
"Maybe it's not the right time to get my first (goal)," Drouin said.
"It was nice for (Palat) to cover that for me. It was an
unbelievable save by Ramo. I thought I had him. He made a great
save."
Lightning goalie Evgeni Nabokov made 21 saves, while Ramo made 20
stops at the other end.
The Flames continue their five-game homestand Thursday, when they
welcome the Carolina Hurricanes to the Scotiabank Saddledome. The
next stop for the Lightning on their western swing is Friday's date
with the Winnipeg Jets.
NOTES: Lightning RW Ryan Callahan missed a second consecutive game
due to a lower-body injury. Coach Jon Cooper said the first-line
forward is week-to-week. Tampa Bay also was without D Radko Gudas
(lower body), D Victor Hedman (finger) and C Alex Killorn
(upper-body). ... Flames D Deryk Engelland returned to the lineup
after missing three games with a lower-body issue, while RW Josh
Jooris made his second NHL appearance after a one-game absence due
to an upper-body ailment. Flames RW David Jones (upper-body) is
skating but remains out. ... Tampa Bay recalled LW Mike Blunden from
AHL Syracuse. The 27-year-old, already with 102 games of NHL
experience, made his Lightning debut against the Flames.
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