Lightning Beat Kraken 4-3 in Overtime Behind Victor Hedman's Incredible Goal

The Tampa Bay Lightning returned home to Benchmark International Arena after falling to the New York Rangers for the second time. Tampa entered the contest at 4-2 against the 5-2 Seattle Kraken.

Tampa started the contest letting up a sloppy goal after Andrei Vasilevskiy left the puck for Emil Lilleberg who instantly turned it over in Tampa's zone, leading to a Ryan Winterton goal.

But it didn't take long for Tampa to take control of the game after that. Brandon Hagel evened the score late in the first period and he would add another one early in the second. Hagel's second goal came early in the second period and gave him 19 points in his 10 career games against the Kraken (9 goals, 10 assists).

Tampa (Ilya Mikheyev's 100th career goal) and Seattle exchanged goals in the third period, sending us to an overtime period, one in which Victor Hedman would score an incredible game winner.

Dominic James returned to action for the first time this season after missing the first six games with a broken hand and he made an immediate impact. Dan Hinote had this to say about James before the game:

“He's got a little rattish behavior. You know what I mean? He stirs up the pot. He's in the mix all of the time. He kind of reminds me of a young Gourde or an old Gourde because Gourde does not know how to turn it off. You cannot have enough guys like that because we are that team”

Dan Hinote

And James proved him right in his first game back, recording an assist, 3 hits and a shot on goal.

Game Notes

• Power Play is Becoming Concerning: Another night, another 0 for on the power play. The Bolts aren't getting enough shots on the net and their first power play line is struggling mightily. The Lightning have been one of the NHL's worst teams with the man advantage, and it is simply inexcusable considering the talent they have on the ice. If Tampa doesn't figure it out soon, changes need to be made.

• Brayden Point Has to Be Better: Turnover problems, clogging lanes, faceoff struggles. Point simply has yet to bounce back from his struggles of last season. If Tampa wants to be the best team they can be, they need Brayden Point.

• Hockey is a Game of Inches: The best example is the Kraken's second goal of the game that slid just under the body of Ryan McDonagh, the Kraken evened the game on a tip-in, and Tampa was all over the post tonight, and Nikita Kucherov and his power play unit are just barely missing on their passing attempts down low. These little swings night in and night out are often the difference.

The Bolts are now 5-2 on the season and will remain home to face the Utah Mammoth this Saturday.