In Tampa, the Lightning needed a goal from J.T. Miller midway through the third period to tie the Los Angeles Kings, 3-3, and force overtime.
The Bolts had a 2-0 lead heading into the third period bu the Kings scored three straight goals to take the lead, 3-2.
J.T. Miller scored the tying goal in the third – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“I don’t know exactly how [Stamkos] got it, I think [Ondrej Palat] disrupted the play,” Miller said. “I just tried to present myself, and it was nice to see it go in.”
Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli also scored for the Lightning.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 saves in the victory.
Alex Iafallo, Jonny Brodzinski and Austin Wagner scored for the Kings early in the third period after the Bolts let off the gas a bit.
“It felt good, my legs felt great,” Brodzinski said. “As far as the team goes, I felt like we played well tonight. We made a couple mistakes in the first period that led to their goals, but I thought we played well coming back.”
The Kings dropped to 23-32-7.
“We knew this team was going to come at us pretty hard and we had to be quick on the puck,” Los Angeles coach Willie Desjardins said. “I thought we deserved more, early. Overall, the guys worked hard.”
Victor Hedman was credited with the skills competition winner.
“When you are up two, you want to shut it down in the third,” Hedman said. “You have to give them credit too, they did not go away. They kept pushing and got rewarded. We are a resilient group. [Nine] straight wins, you don’t get that by fluke, so very happy that we’ve been able to put together a point streak like this again.”
Tampa improved to 48-11-4.
“You have a two-goal lead at home, it needs to be automatic for our group and it should be with where we are,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. “We found a way, nine straight wins is something to be proud of, but we just want to continue to keep getting better.”
[WATCH: All Kings vs. Lightning highlights]
Jack Campbell made 31 saves in the loss.
“That’s a tough team over there, they’re really good,” Campbell said. “I thought we came in and battled. I thought we competed. That’s the type of compete the rest of the year.”
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