Lightning top Blackhawks on Hedman's horn-beating OT goal

CHICAGO - Victor Hedman scored 4:59 into overtime, with the puck barely over the line at the horn, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on Thursday night for their sixth straight victory.

Steven Stamkos and Anthony Cirelli also scored for Tampa Bay, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 35 saves in another stellar performance.

Hedman was mobbed after his shot from above the slot got past a screened Lankinen just before time expired. Hedman’s fifth goal was upheld after a video review.

Chicago forward Alex DeBrincat had a shot go off the post in OT, and Tampa Bay defenseman Mikhail Sergachev shot one off the crossbar.

DeBrincat and Ryan Carpenter scored for the Blackhawks in the opener of a three-game series. Lankinen finished with 31 saves.

The teams play again Friday night, and then finish the series on Sunday.

Tampa Bay was down 2-0 at the start of the third, but it erased the deficit in the first three minutes of the period.

First, Cirelli redirected Jan Rutta’s shot past Lankinen for a short-handed goal at 1:04. Then Stamkos got his 11th of the season when he made a great move to get around Patrick Kane before scoring from the slot at 2:55.

While the Lightning controlled much of the third, Matthew Highmore had a wide-open look in front that was turned away by Vasilevskiy with about 5 1/2 minutes left.

Chicago jumped in front in the second in perhaps its best period of the season. Vasilevskiy held off the Blackhawks for a while, turning away good looks by Pius Suter and DeBrincat, but some hustle by Brandon Hagel set up the first goal of the game.

With Chicago forward Phillipp Kurashev in the penalty box, Hagel chased down a loose puck in the Tampa Bay end and took a shot from the left circle that went off Vasilevskiy and popped into the air. Lightning forward Pat Maroon then mishandled the puck in front and Hagel passed it over to Carpenter, who beat Vasilevskiy high on the stick side at 7:24.

Carpenter’s third goal in two games stopped Vasilevskiy’s franchise-record shutout streak at 228 minutes, 9 seconds. It was the NHL’s longest run since Ben Bishop’s streak of 233 minutes, 4 seconds for Dallas during the 2018-19 season.

The Blackhawks continued to buzz around Vasilevskiy, and DeBrincat made it 2-0 when he got a piece of Kane’s shot for his 12th goal with 5:56 left in the second.

HELD OUT

Tampa Bay defenseman Erik Cernak was sidelined by an upper-body injury. He is day to day. Luke Schenn replaced Cernak in the lineup.

ON THE MEND

Chicago forward Dylan Strome got some work in on the ice before the morning skate. Strome has missed the last five games because of concussion protocol.

"He got out there, so that’s a positive. It means he’s progressing," coach Jeremy Colliton said. "Certainly early in the game here."