Stamkos' power-play goal in OT puts Lightning over Predators

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Steven Stamkos scored a power-play goal in overtime to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Saturday night and extend their winning streak to a season-high four games.

In overtime, Stamkos beat Nashville goalie Jusse Saros with a slap shot from the high slot on a 4-on-3 power play to secure the come-from-behind win.

“Just create an opportunity in overtime,” Stamkos said. “If you get a power play, you want to bury it. We did that. It was a just a good character win for our group.”

Stamkos has scored in his last four games against Nashville.

Nikita Kucherov had a goal and two assists, Alex Killorn also scored and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 saves for the Lightning. Brayden Point had two assists.

“That one felt really good,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “I thought the right team got two points tonight. They showed a little moxie, especially the way the third period was unfolding.”

Filip Forsberg and Nino Niederreiter scored and Saros made 36 saves for Nashville, which had its three-game winning streak halted.

“(Saros) was good in net,” Nashville coach John Hynes said. “I thought we generated some good quality chances. Their guy played in well in net, too, so it was a hard-fought battle.”

Just over five minutes into the third, Matt Duchene and Niederreiter forced a Tampa Bay turnover before Niederreiter slipped a wrist shot between Vasilevskiy’s pads.

Niederreiter leads Nashville with nine goals on the season, including notching one in three-straight games.

Forsberg scored the game’s first goal at 1:50 of the opening period. With Nashville on a power play, Forsberg beat Vasilevskiy from above the left faceoff circle with a one-timer high to the far side. The goal came just seconds after Saros denied Nicholas Paul from on close off of a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush.

“Yeah, at the end of the day, you’re that close to getting two points against a really good team,” Forsberg said. “I thought we battled hard.”

Saros was busy in the first, as he turned aside all 18 Lightning shots he faced.

Kucherov finally got one by Saros at 4:25 of the second, also on the power play. He has points in six consecutive games against the Predators, picking up five goals and six assists over that span.

“If he’s going to make that many saves the entire game, good on him, but we were able to get a couple in at the end,” Killorn said.

SERGACHEV STREAK

With an assist on Kucherov’s goal, Tampa Bay defenseman Mikhail Sergachev extended his point streak to four games. He has collected two goals and six assists for eight points over the streak.

BOGOSIAN BACK

Lightning defenseman Zach Bogosian played his first game of the season after missing the 17 games because of offseason shoulder surgery. Bogosian had three shots on goal and seven hits in almost 16:00 of ice time.

WHAT’S NEXT

Predators: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Monday.

Lightning: Host the Boston Bruins on Monday.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports