Lightning rally, defeat Blackhawks in OT
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[March 28, 2017]
TAMPA, Fla. -- Yanni Gourde's
second NHL goal was a huge one, as the 25-year-old rookie stole the
puck and scored a breakaway game-winner with 35 seconds left in
overtime as the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied for a 5-4 win over the
Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night at Amalie Arena.
"It's a pretty amazing feeling," said Gourde, who had fresh legs
before Chicago could change lines, pulling away and beating goalie
Scott Darling to complete a wild comeback. "We really believe we can
be in a playoff spot, and that's what we've been showing lately. We
want to be there and we work hard."
The Lightning (37-29-9) picked up two much-needed points in the
standings, moving ahead of the New York Islanders in the wild-card
chase and pulling within a single point of the idle Boston Bruins
for the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
"I don't know that we've ever had our backs against the wall for
this long a period and had to grind our way through," Tampa Bay
coach Jon Cooper said. "Something new every day. A left hook here,
an uppercut here, but the guys won't go down."
Chicago (48-21-7) bounced back from a 7-0 loss at Florida on
Saturday but saw a 4-1 lead slip away in the second period.
Andrei Vasilevskiy needed only one save in the final 15 minutes of
the game to help the Lightning rally.
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Chicago outshot Tampa Bay 10-1 in the first half of the third
period, but Vasilevskiy -- who left the game for the final 6:19 of
the first period after giving up three early goals -- made several
stellar saves to preserve the 4-4 tie. From there, the Blackhawks
didn't have a single shot on goal in the final 10 minutes as both
teams took the point as play went to overtime. Darling had 25 saves
for Chicago, while Vasilevskiy made 25 saves, 10 in the third
period.
"They came hard there for a bit and got some fortunate bounces,"
Darling said. "That's what happens when you throw everything at the
net and have a net-front presence, so credit them."
The Lightning got help in other results, as the Islanders lost 3-1
to Nashville and surging Carolina lost 4-3 in overtime to Detroit.
Tampa Bay also is just two points back of Toronto for third place in
the Atlantic Division.
The Lightning, down 4-1 midway through the second period and on
their second goalie, rallied for three goals in five minutes -- two
from Jonathan Drouin -- to tie the game and take momentum into the
final period.
The rally started when Drouin redirected an Alex Killorn shot in
front of the net for his 19th goal of the season, cutting the lead
to 4-2 with 8:15 left in the period.
Just 62 seconds later, Greg McKegg wrapped around the goal and fed a
pass to defenseman Anton Stralman, who scored his fourth goal of the
season to cut the lead to 4-3.
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A delay penalty against Chicago gave the Lightning a power play with
4:37 left in the second, and halfway through that advantage, Drouin
fired a long shot past Darling to tie the game with 3:36 remaining.
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![](../images/032817pics/sports65.jpg)
Lightning center Greg
McKegg (33) and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) attempt to make a
save against Chicago Blackhawks left wing Andrew Desjardins (11)
during the first period at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim
Klement-USA TODAY Sports
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Mar/14/images/ads/current/tires250x300.gif)
Tampa Bay finished with 14 shots in the period,
including a late flurry that Darling held off to carry the tie to
the third.
Chicago jumped out to an early lead. Artemi Panarin fired a shot
that Vasilevskiy stopped, but it dribbled past him and into the net
for Panarin's 25th goal of the season and a 1-0 lead just 1:23 into
the game.
The Lightning would answer, getting a power-play goal from Ondrej
Palat (his 16th) on a redirect from a long shot by defenseman Victor
Hedman, who picked up his 48th assist.
Chicago wasn't done. Patrick Kane got his 34th goal for a 2-1 lead
with 9:43 left in the period, then Tomas Jurco got his first goal of
the season, firing a rebound off his own miss for a 3-1 lead with
6:19 remaining.
Vasilevskiy was pulled after allowing three goals on eight shots,
with Peter Budaj replacing him in net. Budaj stopped all three shots
he faced before Vasilevskiy returned at the start of the second.
Richard Panik put in his own rebound for a 4-1 Blackhawks lead with
11:13 left in the second, setting up the Lightning comeback.
"It's tough. We had such a good first period, a good start to the
second, and they turned it on for the last 10 minutes of the
second," Darling said. "It was pretty impressive. We played good in
the third and I've got to come up with a save there in OT."
Monday was a Lightning home game, but the arena was loaded with red
jerseys for Chicago's lone trip to Tampa this season.
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NOTES: The Lightning, continuing to wait with hope for a return by
Steven Stamkos, played again without three other regulars. D Jason
Garrison missed a second straight game with a lower-body injury and
C Tyler Johnson and C Cedric Paquette each missed their ninth
straight with their own lower-body injuries. ... Chicago RW Ryan
Hartman, who earned a costly unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in
Saturday's 7-0 loss at Florida, found himself a healthy scratch in
Monday's game, the first game he's missed in more than four months.
D Michal Rozsival missed his ninth straight game and C Artem
Anisimov his seventh straight, while D Michal Kempny was a healthy
scratch for the eighth time in nine games. [© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All
rights reserved.]
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