NHL Off-Season Rankings: No. 6, Tampa Bay Lightning - Yahoo

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Captain Victor Hedman scored just over two minutes into overtime to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night. Hedman crossed the blue line, split the defense and drove straight to the net, tapping the puck through the legs of Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer, who was trying to poke the puck away. Pontus Holmberg got an assist on the goal 2:07 into OT. Brandon Hagel scored twice and Ilya Mikheyev added a goal for the Lightning, who improved to 4-0-0 at home. The last time Tampa Bay opened a season with four straight wins in 2020-21, when they opened 6-0. Tampa Bay led 2-1 after two periods and was 3-0 when leading after 40 minutes entering Thursday's game. Last season, the Lightning were 33-1 when leading after two periods. Jared McCann, Matthew Beniers and Ryan Winterton scored for the Kraken. Beniers’ tip-in goal in the third tied the game with 4:19 left in regulation. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves in the win for the Lightning. Grubauer had 31 saves for the Kraken. Kraken: At the Florida Panthers on Saturday. Lightning: Host the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. ---See AP’s full NHL coverage here

Connor Hellebuyck's suspension will come to an end on Friday. Elliotte Friedman has the story.

The Edmonton Oilers have only surrendered nine goals in the last five games, which speaks to their quality goaltending, structured five-on-five play, and consistent forecheck. The issue with that number is that five of those nine goals are against the Oilers’ penalty kill, which was a point of emphasis for new associate coach DJ Smith after the whipping that PK took in the postseason. That category has been tough sledding overall for the team, which sits at 68.2 per cent for the season, fifth worst in the NHL. The opposition has scored on the power play in five of seven games, and the Utah Mammoth made it happen twice, punishing Josh Samanski’s double-minor for high-sticking and the team’s bench minor on Thursday. The Mammoth PP bumped up to first in the league at 37.5 per cent, and have scored multiple goals on the man advantage in a game a league-best five times. “I think we’re just attacking,” said Barrett Hayton on the power play’s success. He extended his point streak to five games. “Obviously that first unit’s been so good snapping around, they’re so dangerous, and I think they’ve done a great job kind of keeping that mindset.