Lightning cash in with pretty overtime goal to top Jets
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) -- Ondrej Palat was just doing what he was told.
Palat scored 36 seconds into overtime and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-3 on Friday night.
Palat scored off a 3-on-1 rush, converting a tap in after a tic-tac-toe play with Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman.
"Coach (Jon Cooper) told me to go with Stammer (Steven Stamkos) and I'm just happy to score the goal," said Palat. "We had speed and that's what you have to do on 3-on-3."
Braydon Coburn, Cedric Paquette and Vladislav Namestnikov also scored for the Lightning (5-2-1). Hedman had three assists.
Nikolaj Ehlers, Drew Stafford and Blake Wheeler had goals for the Jets (4-3-0).
Ben Bishop got his 100th career win. He has started every game for the Lightning this season and stopped 33 shots. Ondrej Pavelec picked up his third loss in five starts.
Wheeler scored 1:17 into the third period to make it 3-3 with a shorthanded goal. He raced behind the net, stole the puck from Bishop and scored on a wraparound.
"It's tough to pat yourself on the back after losses, especially in our division," Wheeler said. "It's going to be a tough grind all year, everyone seems to win every night."
Tyler Johnson threaded a pass from behind the net to Coburn, who buried his first of the season for a 1-0 Tampa Bay lead.
Winnipeg tied the game 1-1 when Ehlers scored his second of the season. Mark Scheifele shuffled the puck to Ehlers after taking a feed from Mathieu Perreault.
Ehlers came inches from his second of the night and a lead for the Jets, but his shot found iron, much to the liking of a helpless Bishop.
"It was a fast game, some really well executed plays for both teams," Jets coach Paul Maurice said. "I think both teams were good for a reason. I don't think through the game one team got worse. One team was good in the first and the third, that was us. They were real good in the second period."
Tampa Bay restored their one-goal advantage 7:22 into the second frame. Paquette benefited from the Lightning forcing a turnover that allowed the sophomore to snipe his first of the season top corner over Pavelec's glove hand.
Stafford briefly tied the game 2-2 on a partial breakaway. But 21 seconds later, the Lightning struck again when Namestnikov fired in a rebound off Hedman's point shot to restore their one-goal cushion at 11:18.
NOTES: Wheeler has a point in each of the Jets' seven games to start the season, tying a franchise record set by Donald Audette in 2000-01. Wheeler has nine points in seven games . Steven Stamkos played in his 500th game on Friday night. ... The Jets continue their six-game homestand against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday. Tampa Bay heads to Chicago for a date with the Blackhawks on Saturday night.
