Post-holiday clash with Nashville sees Brandon Hagel reach a milestone and Brayden Point seals the deal in overtime. Tampa ended up dressing 11 forwards and 7 defensemen and kept Andrei Vasilevskiy back home to rest before tomorrow’s game against Toronto. Matt Tompkins was recalled backing up Jonas Johansson who has struggled in every start so far. Nikita Kucherov would exit the game but was able to return for the third period. Throughout the night it became a battle of grit with both teams playing tight leading to overtime to decide the winner.
Giving up an early goal
Starting off, Predators scored an early goal from their captain Roman Josi. Steven Stamkos won the face-off and Josi immediately fired the puck that went past Johansson with ease. This was not the start the Lightning wanted especially with Johansson struggling as of late. Minutes later, Anthony Cirelli took a puck to the face and immediately went to the locker room to be further checked on. Afterwards, Lightning received the first power play of the day with Stamkos sent off for holding. Predators killed off the penalty and also were close to scoring short-handed with the score remaining 1-0.
Nearly delivered an early gift
While the shots on net were pretty close, Nashville controlled the game with half the period gone by. Then, Predators were struggling to clear the puck out and that allowed Tampa to start attacking the net. Afterwards, Predators nearly added to their lead after a flurry of shots that Johansson was able to contain keeping it a one goal game. Horrifically, the Lightning net was left empty after a clearing attempt, but no damage was done. Miscues like that cannot happen and Tampa is fortunate that Nashville was unable to score off that clearing attempt. With just under a minute to go, Nashville would get their first power play that carried over into the second period.
Exchanging penalties
Nashville began the second period with over a minute and a half left on the power play. Their power play would not last as a few penalties were called. Stamkos is sent off for tripping, and J.J. Moser and Jonathan Marchessault were sent off for roughing. After that was sorted out Lightning went on the power play but also surrendered a penalty on the man-advantage. Mike Eyssimont was sent off with seven seconds left on the power play to put Nashville back on the man-advantage. However, Lightning scored short-handed off a bad pass by the Predators. Anthony Cirelli tied the game off a failed pass that snuck past Juuse Saros. The entire sequence was bizarre, but Tampa benefited from it and killed off the remainder of the power play.
Tony tied it up 🙌 pic.twitter.com/hnL98aPaaT
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) November 29, 2024
Hagel ties it up with his 100th goal
Momentum seemed to finally swing in Tampa’s favor and eventually they would take the lead. Hagel’s shot went off a stick and a skate before going past Saros to give the Lightning a 2-1 lead. With the goal Hagel eclipsed the 100-goal mark in his career. At this point in the game Tampa was down to 10 forwards with no signs of Kucherov on the bench. Unfortunately, the lead would not last long after Josi scored his second of the game to tie the game 2-2. The goal killed the bit of momentum the Lightning had and re-energized the home crowd in Nashville. Period ended with score remaining 2-2 and still no sign of Kucherov.
Sound the horn 🚨 pic.twitter.com/HWHpUELe33
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) November 29, 2024
Back to eleven forwards
Great news to start the second as Kucherov returned to the bench before puck drop. Immediately, he would be back on the ice with a power play after a delay of game call on Nashville. Penalty was killed off and Predators nearly scored soon after. Instead, the puck went off the pipe with no chance of a rebound. After that shot neither team could not generate a good scoring opportunity as the midway point grew closer. To this point shots on net were still in favor of Nashville 25-19. With 11 minutes to go, Nashville nearly took the lead with their best chance of the period, but Johansson was able to make the stop. Would overtime be on the horizon for this post-holiday affair?
Post-holiday cheers
Minutes later, Lightning performed a great tic-tac-toe play but Saros was able to keep the puck out and the score once again remained 2-2 with over 9 minutes to go in the third. As the time winded down so did the desperation to score a goal. Both teams turned on the jets and did anything they can to try and score the go-ahead goal. Grittier plays were also seen as it looked like the game would head to overtime. In overtime Lightning would get a powerplay opportunity after a high-sticking call on Filip Forsberg and looked to end the game quickly. That ended up being the case thanks to a power play goal by Branden Point. Lightning begins post-holiday play with the 3-2 win and head home tomorrow to welcome the Toronto Maple Leafs.
21 gets it done 🤝 pic.twitter.com/6e5HNTXru5
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) November 29, 2024
Three stars of the game
First star: Brayden Point – Game-winning goal in overtime
Second star: Roman Josi – 2 goals
Third star: Jonas Johansson – Saved 28 of 30 shots faced
