Lightning vs. Kraken: Victor Hedman's Overtime Dash Keeps Tampa Bay Perfect at Home

Victor Hedman looked up, saw three-on-three open ice in front of him and decided the moment called for a captain's rush. He gathered speed through the neutral zone, knifed between Seattle's defenders and, as Philipp Grubauer lunged with a poke check, tucked a backhand through the goalie's legs.

That goal, 2:07 into overtime, gave the Tampa Bay Lightning a 4-3 win over the Seattle Kraken at Benchmark International Arena. Brandon Hagel scored twice, Ilya Mikheyev added his 100th career goal, and Tampa Bay stayed perfect at home at 4-0-0. It was also Hedman's first goal since Feb. 28, according to NHL.com.

Hagel Sets the Pace

Seattle drew first blood at 5:43 of the opening period. Frederick Gaudreau forechecked Emil Lilleberg into coughing up the puck behind the Tampa Bay net, and Ryan Winterton finished it from right in front.

Then Hagel took over. He tied it at 16:53, sneaking behind Berkly Catton for a Brayden Point pass and cleaning up his own rebound. Early in the second, Anthony Cirelli left him a drop pass, and Hagel wired it glove side from the left circle at 3:38 for a 2-1 lead. According to NHL.com, he has five goals in his last three games.

"He's the guy that stirs the drink for our team," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "Whether it's on the ice or in the locker room, he's an emotional kid and I think when he's going like that, the guys jump on his back."

Tampa Bay carried that 2-1 lead into the third, which normally ends the conversation. The AP noted that the Lightning were 3-0 this season when leading after two periods coming into Thursday, and 33-1 in that situation last season.

The Kraken Refuse to Go Quietly

Seattle had other ideas. Dominic James went to the box for interference at 2:47 of the third, and just seven seconds into the power play, Jordan Eberle sent the puck across and Jared McCann buried a one-timer from the low slot to tie it 2-2.

Mikheyev answered at 9:58, swiping the puck from Ville Ottavainen at the edge of the crease and jabbing it home. It was the 100th goal of his NHL career, and it looked like the winner for a while.

It wasn't. Matty Beniers won an offensive-zone faceoff, Vince Dunn put a shot on net, and Beniers redirected it home at 15:41 to tie it 3-3. That tip also gave Beniers 200 career NHL points, per NHL.com.

"I really liked our bench, our attitude and guys picking each other up," Beniers said. McCann agreed that Seattle was at its best when trailing. "Our competitiveness comes out when we get down," he said.

Hedman Trusts His Legs

Overtime is supposed to belong to the speedy forwards. Hedman, a defenseman who logged 17:13 on the night, apparently did not get that memo. He read that the Kraken's other two skaters were spread wide, attacked the lone defender up top, and the gap opened.

"I was open and I felt like the other two guys were kind of wide, so I felt like I could get a step on the top guy to have a chance," Hedman said. "Just trusting my instincts and trusting my legs."

Cooper understood the moment. "Victor is going to have his name in the rafters here and you want times like that to be remembered," he said. "I think everybody got pretty excited when he did that."

Star Power on Both Sides

Hagel was the engine, with two goals in 23:24 of ice time. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves on 27 shots, and per NHL.com, the win was the 374th of his career, tying John Vanbiesbrouck for 19th in NHL history.

James, back for his season debut after missing six games with a hand injury, picked up an assist on Hagel's second goal. Hedman finished plus-3 with the overtime winner.

For Seattle, Grubauer made 31 saves on 35 shots and kept the Kraken in a game in which they were outshot 35-27 and outhit 30-15. The Kraken did win 58.3 percent of the faceoffs and went 1-for-3 on the power play, while Tampa Bay went 0-for-3. Seattle also lost defenseman Brandon Montour in the second period to a lower-body injury, per NHL.com, and played the rest of the night a man short on the back end.

Milestones and Margins

• 374: Career wins for Vasilevskiy, now tied for 19th in NHL history.
• 100: Career NHL goals for Mikheyev after his third-period strike.
• 35-27: Tampa Bay's edge in shots on goal.
• 30-15: Tampa Bay's edge in hits.
• 4-0-0: The Lightning's home record.

Tampa Stays Perfect, Seattle Hits the Wall

Tampa Bay improves to 5-2-0 with 10 points and has won five of its last six. The Lightning lost 4-1 at the Rangers on Tuesday and responded with exactly the kind of grinding win that wins you points in October. "Two points are two points and move on," is how Hagel framed it, and that is basically the house philosophy. They host Vancouver on Saturday.

Seattle falls to 5-2-1 with 11 points. The Kraken had won three straight and four of five, and they still picked up a point despite trailing in the third twice. Coach Lane Lambert pointed to the travel. "You start getting into game four and day eight or nine of a road trip and it starts to become fatiguing," he said. "I thought we had a little bit of fatigue tonight." This trip opened with wins at Detroit, Washington and Philadelphia, so walking out of Tampa with a point in Game 4 is hardly a crisis. The trip continues Saturday in Florida against the Panthers.

Captain on the Move

Hedman played this one like Gandalf at the bridge in reverse: instead of holding the line, he crossed it and went straight at the goalie. The Kraken did enough to steal a point on a tired road trip. The Lightning did enough to stay unbeaten at home. And Hedman reminded everyone that defensemen are allowed to have the fun in overtime, too.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and notes as reported by NHL.com.