NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Brayden Point scored a power-play goal at 1:01 of overtime to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday afternoon.
Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel also scored and Jonas Johnasson made 29 saves for the Lightning, who have won two of three.
Roman Josi scored twice and Juuse Saros made 25 saves for Nashville, losers of three straight.
Josi scored the game’s first goal at 1:123 of the opening period with a wrist shot through traffic that beat Johansson high to the far side and Cirelli tied it at 4:06 of the second with a shorthanded goal.
Cirelli left the game early in the first after being hit in the face with a shot from teammate Erik Cernak. Cirelli returned to the game later in the first wearing a full protective face shield. Cirelli had a six-game goal scoring streak snapped Wednesday against Washington. With his goal Friday afternoon, Cirelli has eight goals in eight games.
Takeaways
Lightning: Johansson improved his record to 2-1-1 on the season. The lightly used backup earning wins and standings points in games that Andrei Vasilevskiy does not play is a boost to a team competing for playoff position.
Predators: Back-to-back overtime losses have given the Predators two standings points, but one-point games aren’t enough for a team that has had a miserable start to the season and needs victories to get into playoff contention.
Key moment
Saros denied Tampa Bay’s Jake Guentzel with 9:23 remaining in the third period. Coming down the right side, Guentzel was all alone against Saros who made the save to keep the game tied 2-2.
Key stat
Josi, the former Norris Trophy winning defenseman, had just one goal in Nashville’s first 18 games this season, but now has five in his last four games. He has scored the first goal in three of the last four.
Up next
The Lightning host the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday, while the Predators visit the Minnesota Wild, also on Saturday.
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