SUNRISE, Fla. _ The Lightning were trailing the worst team in the Atlantic Division by three goals. Louis Domingue looked shaky in goal. It didn't look good.
Until it did.
The Lightning could almost trademark the wild comeback, as it pulled off another one Saturday night to start the road trip off on a good note.
"We're a confident group," defenseman Victor Hedman said after the 5-4 overtime win over Florida. "Even though we were down three, we thought we were the better team and we knew we have the strengths on this team to come back from a deficit like that."
Coach Jon Cooper liked the way the Lightning were playing, even when they were down. He pointed out they didn't give up much, it was just a matter of the Panthers scoring on everything they had.
To be specific, the Panthers scored on two of their first three shots (11 seconds apart, at that), to take a 2-0 lead midway through the first period. They added another two on nine shots in the second period.
The fatigue that seemed to creep in on Thursday looked to be affecting Domingue.
And yet, the Lightning found a way, just as they have many times before.
It started with a Nikita Kucherov assist and ended with a Kucherov assist, with a Kucherov goal in between. Oh, and two big saves by Domingue.
Down 4-1, Kucherov set up Mathieu Joseph for a one-timer from the top of the right circle with seven minutes left in the second period. Then he scored one of his own in the final minute.
The Lightning got a power play with 2:12 left in the second, when Aaron Ekblad was called for a cross-check. That became a big moment. There's a big difference between heading to the dressing room down one goal versus two goals, never mind down two after coming up empty on power play.
Through the first minute-plus, the Lightning didn't have much as far as shooting lanes and kept cycling the puck. Finally, Kucherov found an opening for a one-timer from the dot.
"That was vintage Kuch there, to put that top shelf," Cooper said. "You can't forget Joseph's goal, too. We're trying to claw our way back and Joseph gives us that bump."
Cedric Paquette put himself in position for a good bounce and the Lightning got a little lucky to tie the game up in the third period. Paquette, who scored the game-winner against Buffalo on Thursday, put a hard shot on James Reimer. The puck bounced off his pads and then off Dryden Hunt's skate, back past the still-sprawled goalie. Tie game with 8:19 to go.
Domingue found his feet late, coming up with a couple of big saves after the Lightning tied it up. He was a perfect 14-for-14 in the third period. His biggest save of the game came in overtime. Ekblad lined up a rocket in and Domingue stuck his pad out to make the save.
That play turned into the game-winner. The Lightning carried the puck up the ice. Tyler Johnson passed to Kucherov down low near the post, and Kucherov flung it over to Brayden Point in a similar position on the other side. Point briefly settled the puck and flung it on net. Reimer got a piece, but not enough as the puck ended up behind him.
"We have a belief in our group that even if we're down, we're not out of it," Point said. "We just stuck to our game, kept playing the same way. We knew we were going to get our chances."
