TAMPA, Fla. — The Lightning went more than six regulation periods without a goal, the type of scoring drought they hadn’t seen in nearly two years.
They had plenty of opportunities, had lots of open shots, but couldn’t bury them. The power play struggled, and it was clear that frustration was kicking in.
But when the Lightning finally found the back of the net early in the second period Saturday against Nashville, the goals came in bunches.
Tampa Bay scored three goals in a five-minute span, quickly turning a one-goal first-period deficit into a two-goal cushion en route to a 4-3 win over the Predators at Amalie Arena.
All the Lightning needed was an opportune bounce on the power play. Tyler Johnson found a rebound on his stick in front of the net and poked it past goaltender Pekka Rinne at 3:33 into the second period.
Johnson’s goal was the Lightning’s first since Ondrej Palat’s power-play score in the first period of their loss to Columbus last Saturday — two games ago. The Lightning were shut out for the first time in 88 regular-season games in Carolina on Thursday.
Rookie defenseman Cal Foote then scored his first NHL goal, rifling a one-timer from the left circle off a feed from Mikhail Sergachev 6:41 into the second period.
Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman came off the bench and rocketed a shot from the high slot past Rinne at the 8:05 mark.
Steven Stamkos then scored with one of his signature one-timers from the left-circle spot on a feed from Hedman for a power-play goal with 2:33 left in the second.
And all of a sudden, everything was back to normal for the Lightning (4-1-1).
The Lightning had struggled against Nashville, having lost four straight at Amalie Arena against the Predators entering the night. Nashville had points in 13 straight against the Lightning.
Stamkos’ goal made history, marking his 300th career power-play point, tying Marty St. Louis for the most in franchise history.
But before Tampa Bay’s scoring flurry, Tampa Bay dictated the pace of play early, clearly motivated by Thursday’s disappointing overtime loss. It outshot Nashville out of the gate 8-0, but had nothing to show for it.
Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made an uncharacteristic whiff on a pass back to him, and he had to make a desperate diving retreat to prevent a Nashville goal, dropping his stick to cover the puck with his hand just before it slid over the goalline.
The play seemed to fester for Vasilevskiy, who then allowed a Predators goal when he couldn’t get across the crease to stop Ryan Ellis shot with 2:05 left in the first period.
The Predators (4-4) entered the game ranked 29th in the league on the power play, converting just 2 of 28 man-advantage opportunities. They had one power-play goal in their previous four games before Ellis’ score. Nashville added another power-play goal in the third.
The Lightning killed a 5-on-3 power play in the first with the trio of Hedman, Ryan McDonagh and Barclay Goodrow keeping the Predators scoreless for 45 seconds.
The teams combined for 18 penalties, including six majors.
