Hedman Scores In Overtime, Lightning Beat Sharks 3-2
TAMPA, Fla (AP) — Victor Hedman scored from the left circle with 2:15 left in overtime, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the San Jose Sharks 3-2 on Tuesday night.
Hedman's goal came 39 seconds after Tampa Bay defenseman Ryan McDonagh was called for tripping, but the Sharks' power play was negated when Timo Meier was sent off for embellishment.
"I had a hard time understanding how we didn't (get a power play)," Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. "At that time of game you work so hard to get to that position, and you get a scoring chance and get you hauled down. I was actually shocked to see it even up."
Anthony Cirelli and Alex Killorn also scored for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves.
Hedman has eight career overtime goals, which ties Dustin Byfuglein for fourth among NHL defensemen.
"It was a whole different game than when we played them a few weeks ago," Hedman said. "We knew it was going to be a tough challenge. We just had to stay patient."
Tampa Bay beat the Sharks 7-1 in San Jose on Jan. 22.
The Sharks got goals from Rudolfs Balcers and Logan Couture. James Reimer stopped 29 shots.
San Jose went 1-1-2 on what Boughner said before the game was the "toughest trip of the year." The Sharks won at Washington, lost in overtime to Florida, and had a one-goal loss against Carolina.
"This whole road trip was gutsy," Couture said. "We competed with four really good teams in the Eastern Conference, four teams that are near the top of the league, and we were in every game."
Couture ended an eight-game goal drought, scoring from the slot to make it 2-2 on the power play at 1:12 of the third by re-directing Brent Burns' blue-line pass.
Reimer turned aside a pair of close-range rebounds by Cirelli, defenseman Jaycob Megna positioned in the low slot blocked Taylor Raddysh's shot, and Hedman hit the crossbar as Tampa Bay surged after the third period's midway point.
"I was proud of what we did in the third," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "Give up the lead early, and now it's anybody's game. I thought as that period went on, we weren't turning puck over and I think we started on lean on them a little bit."
Cooper earned his 413th regular-season win to tie Jack Adams for 35th place on the career list.
Killorn put Tampa Bay up 2-1 during a power play with 1:52 left in the second. He knocked down a deflected pass from Steven Stamkos and scored from in close.
Cirelli opened the scoring 1:32 into the second when skated down the slot and scored off a nifty pass from Brayden Point.
Balcers tied it at 1 on a redirection of Marc-Edouard Vlasic's shot at 4:50 of the second.
Both goalies had a save on a breakaway about 30 second apart midway through the second. Vasilevskiy stopped Couture, while Reimer stymied Mathieu Joseph.
RAPID RECOVERY
Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro, who underwent 2 1/2 hours of dental surgery Sunday after being hit by a puck in Saturday night's game at Florida, played 27:21 after missing one game.
Ferraro said Tuesday he lost one tooth, had two more bent backward and had work done on his upper mouth. He flew with the team from Florida for Sunday's game at Carolina.
"It was a tough 12 hours," Ferraro said. "That was the hardest part. I'm just thankful that I am where I am right now."
Boughner called Ferraro's return an "inspiration" and "pretty amazing."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Defenseman Jacob Middleton (concussion, 11 games) played.
Lightning: Right wing Nikita Kucherov (COVID-19 protocols) resumed practicing, but missed his third consecutive game.
UP NEXT
Sharks: Host Edmonton on Feb. 14.
Lightning: Play Feb. 10 at Colorado.
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