The Tampa Bay Lightning needed five overtimes, but they got a wild 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday in Toronto. The five overtime periods made this the fourth longest game in NHL history.
The Blue Jackets got this game started well, as Pierre-Luc Dubois scored on the power play in the first to take a 1-0 lead. Brayden Point answered as he scored at the 6:27 mark to tie the game 1-1.
1-1 would be the score going into the second period and for much of the second period - Oliver Bjorkstand scored late in the period to give the Blue Jackets the lead back. But the Lightning answered early in the third, as Yanni Gourde scored twenty-three seconds into the third to tie the game 2-2.
That would be the score for the remainder of regulation - and that would be the score through five overtimes. Though both the Lightning and Blue Jackets had opportunities, the goalies stood tall. Columbus goalie Joonas Korpisalo had a history night, getting 76 saves on 79 Lightning shots through five overtimes. Andrei Vasilevskiy went 57-for-58 in net for Tampa Bay to pick up the win.
The hero on this night would be Brayden Point - who scored at that 10:27 mark of the fifth overtime to propel Tampa Bay to the 3-2 win.
So the Lightning now lead the best of seven series one game to none - game two of the series is scheduled for Thursday afternoon at 3 PM. Pregame coverage is scheduled for 2:30 PM on News Radio WFLA.