Tampa Bay’s Anthony Cirelli scored 59 seconds into overtime and the Lightning beat the host Anaheim Ducks 3-2 on Sunday to stretch their point streak to a season-high seven games.
After intercepting Mason McTavish’s drop-pass on an Anaheim rush, Cirelli led a two-on-zero break with Brandon Hagel.
Cirelli then finished off a give-and-go for his 16th goal of the season to boost Tampa Bay (39-25-7, 85 points) to 6-0-1 in its past seven games.
Anthony Duclair recorded a goal, producing a point in his seventh game after being acquired by the Lightning at the trade deadline. Luke Glendening broke an 11-game goalless drought.
Nikita Kucherov’s team-record 13-game assist streak came to an end.
Making just his fifth appearance in the 33 games since the turn of the year, backup goaltender Jonas Johansson made 30 saves to win for the 12th time.
The Lightning’s lines contained two surprises as the club scratched top defenseman Victor Hedman and first-line center Brayden Point, both out with lower-body injuries.
For Anaheim, Ross Johnston scored for the first time in nearly two years, and Pavel Mintyukov also scored as the Ducks (24-43-4, 52 points) fell to 2-8-1 in their past 11 games.
Lukas Dostal stopped 24 shots.
Johnston, whose last goal came on April 24, 2022, while with the New York Islanders, worked his way past opposing defenseman Mathew Dumba and one-handed a chip off a pass from Jakob Silfverberg for his first Anaheim goal 13:49 into the match.
The Ducks, who previously played in Thursday’s 4-0 win over the visiting Chicago Blackhawks, outshot Tampa Bay 8-5 in the first period.
Duclair remained hot by beating Dostal from the right circle, scoring his 21st goal this season and fifth with his new club at 7:50.
At the 17-minute mark, Glendening notched a tiebreaking tally when he found a rebound and popped in his 10th for a 2-1 lead, but Mintyukov wristed his fourth to tie it at 2-2 at 2:36 of the third.
–Field Level Media