Kadri scores in OT, Maple Leafs beat Lightning 3-2 (Dec 29, 2016)
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Antoine Bibeau plans to give his parents a one-of-a-kind gift. The game puck from his first NHL victory.
Bibeau made 25 saves in his second NHL game, Nazem Kadri scored on a power play 3:37 into overtime and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Thursday night.
''My parents are going to be pretty excited about that,'' the 22-year old Bibeau said.
Bibeau stopped 11 shots in the third, including Brian Boyle's in-close power-play shot late in the period.
''It's pretty special,'' Bibeau said about the win. ''You always think it's going to be special, and it is, but you don't know how good it's going to feel. It feels really good.''
With Valtteri Filppula serving a penalty for goalie interference, Kadri beat Andrei Vasilevskiy from in-close.
''I have zero idea what Fil could have done,'' Lightning coach Jon Copper said. ''The only reason he goes into the goalie is because he's hooked and pushed. It's tough. It happens. The refs made the call. We had a chance to kill it off but didn't.''
Auston Matthews and Tyler Bozak also scored for Toronto. The Maple Leafs have won four in row.
''We're playing well right now,'' Matthews said. ''We were able to get it done.''
Boyle and Ondrej Palat scored, and Vasilevskiy made 32 saves for the Lightning. They rallied from a two-goal, third-period deficit to beat Montreal 4-3 in overtime Wednesday night.
Matthews got his 18th goal from the slot to open the scoring with 5:14 left in the first. The first overall pick in this year has six goals in his last eight games. He also has four goals and seven points during a five-game points streak.
Tampa Bay has allowed the first goal in 24 of 37 games.
After Bozak made it 2-0 midway through the second, Boyle and Palat scored in the period to tie it.
Both Vasilevskiy and Bibeau made a number of strong saves, including a couple during short-handed situations.
Kadri had two shots from the left circle early in the third turned aside by Vasilevskiy, who also made a save on slot shot by Matthews midway through the period.
''It was turnover heaven,'' Cooper said.
Palat hit the crossbar with five minutes left.
NOTES: Matthews also assisted on Kadri's goal, and has two goals and four points in two games against Tampa Bay. ... Filppula was in the lineup after being scratched Wednesday for missing a team meeting. ... Tampa Bay C Brayden Point, hurt in Wednesday's game, will miss four-to-six weeks with an upper-body injury. ... Lightning C Vladislav Namestnikov, who had his head hit the glass on a check Wednesday by Shea Weber, didn't play and is day-to-day.
UP NEXT
Maple Leafs: Host Detroit in Sunday's Centennial Classic. ''It's going to be a blast,'' Matthews said. ''I've never really played a real game outdoors, so it definitely will be very interesting.''
Lightning: Play the third of a five-game homestand Saturday night against Carolina.
