Captain Victor Hedman came up big when it mattered most Thursday night, scoring the game winning goal and his first of the season, to lift the Lightning to a 4-3 victory against the Seattle Kraken at Benchmark International Arena.
The win improved Tampa Bay’s record to 4-2-0 on the season, marking the teams fifth victory in its last six games and extending their undefeated record on home ice.
After Seattle’s Ryan Winterton opened the scoring midway through the first period, Lightning winger Brandon Hagel quickly helped shift the momentum.
Hagel put the Lightning on the board late in the first, collecting his own rebound to tie the contest at one.
This offensive push continued early in the second when he capitalized off an Anothony Cirelli pass to give the Bolts their first lead of the night.
TBL vs. SEA | Hagel scores his second of the night | Tampa Bay Lightning
Seattle responded early in the third period when Jared McCann netted a powerplay goal to make it 2-2.
Just five minutes later, Ilya Mikheyev forced a turnover in front of the Seattle net and jammed the puck past goaltender Philipp Grubauer to reclaim the lead and notch his 100th career goal.
It would ultimately be the Kraken with the last word in regulation. With just over four minutes left in the third, Matty Beniers redirected a Vince Dunn shot, tying the game at three and forcing overtime.
The Lightning, however, would only need 2:07 of overtime to seal their fate.
Victor Hedman carried the puck into the Seattle zone, splitting two defensemen and sliding a backhanded shot five-hole to capture the victory.
Hedman does it all himself in OT!
Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy finished the night with 24 saves, while the Bolts outshot the Kraken 35-27.
The victory continues a strong start on home ice for Tampa Bay, who will look to carry this momentum into Saturday night’s matchup against the Vancouver Canucks at Benchmark International Arena.
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