Victor Hedman Scores in Overtime as Lightning Beat Kraken 4-3 for Fifth Win in Six Games

Victor Hedman split the Seattle defense and scored on a backhand 2:07 into overtime Thursday night, giving the Tampa Bay Lightning a 4-3 win over the Kraken at Benchmark International Arena and capping a comeback season moment for the longtime captain.

It was Hedman's first goal of the season and his first since Feb. 28 against the Buffalo Sabres, according to NHL.com. The win pushed Tampa Bay to 5-2-0, with five victories in its past six games, and kept the Lightning perfect at home at 4-0-0. It also came two nights after a 4-1 loss to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden snapped a four-game winning streak.

The overtime winner

The Lightning had let two third-period leads slip away and needed something special at 3-on-3. Hedman supplied it. According to the Tampa Bay Times, he took a pass from Pontus Holmberg in the neutral zone, caught Seattle forward Shane Wright out of position and charged through the middle as he crossed the blue line. He chipped the puck past Wright, split two more Kraken skaters to recover it, and swept a backhand past goaltender Philipp Grubauer.

"I kind of surveyed what was open and I felt like their other two guys were kind of wide," Hedman told the Times. "So I felt that if I could get a step on the top guy I had a chance. So it's just trusting my instincts and trusting my legs."

Holmberg was credited with the lone assist. Hedman finished a season-best plus-3, and his 17:13 of ice time was his most since the season opener on Oct. 1, according to the Times.

Why the goal mattered for Hedman

The moment carried weight beyond two points in the standings. Hedman played just 33 games last season, scoring one goal, before taking a leave of absence to prioritize his mental health. NHL.com reported that he missed the final 15 games of the regular season and all seven games the Lightning played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Coach Jon Cooper said it was the kind of moment the organization wanted for a player whose number is destined for the rafters. "It's been a long fight back for him and those can do nothing but build his confidence," Cooper said, according to NHL.com.

Forward Brandon Hagel said the dressing room has great care for its captain. "To have a guy do that and win for your team, it is only going to gain him confidence and it gains his team confidence," Hagel told the Times.

Hagel stays hot

Before Hedman's heroics, Hagel carried the offense. Seattle took a 1-0 lead at 5:43 of the first period when Frederick Gaudreau forced defenseman Emil Lilleberg into a turnover behind the net and flipped the puck to Ryan Winterton for a tap-in.

Hagel tied it at 16:53 of the first, getting behind Berkly Catton to take a seam pass from Brayden Point and finishing his own rebound. He put Tampa Bay ahead 2-1 at 3:38 of the second, taking a drop pass from Anthony Cirelli and beating Grubauer glove side with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle. Dominic James started that rush with a pass off the wall.

The two goals give Hagel six for the season, the team lead, and five over his past three games, including a hat trick Saturday in a 5-3 win against the New York Islanders. Hagel had six shots Thursday, and the Times noted that he leads the NHL in 5-on-5 shots on goal per 60 minutes, at 14.06, according to Natural Stat Trick.

A third period that slipped away twice

Seattle tied it 2-2 on the power play 2:54 into the third. James, playing in his season debut after missing the first six games with a hand injury, whiffed on a puck inside the blue line and was called for interference trying to stop a breakaway. Jared McCann then one-timed a cross-ice feed from Jordan Eberle from the low slot.

Ilya Mikheyev restored the lead at 9:58, stripping defenseman Ville Ottavainen in front of the net and poking the puck past Grubauer. It was the 100th goal of Mikheyev's NHL career.

The Kraken answered with 4:19 left in regulation. Matty Beniers won an offensive-zone faceoff, then tipped in a shot from Vince Dunn at the center point for his 200th NHL point. Faceoffs were a sore spot all night: Tampa Bay won just 25 of 60 draws (41.7 percent), and Cooper told the Times that he thought faceoffs cost his team twice.

Vasilevskiy climbs the wins list

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves on 27 shots for his 374th career win, tying John Vanbiesbrouck for 19th in NHL history, according to NHL.com. Vanbiesbrouck, the goaltender who backstopped the Florida Panthers to the 1996 Stanley Cup Final, is a familiar name to hockey fans across the state. Grubauer made 31 saves on 35 shots for Seattle.

The key numbers from Thursday's game:

Seattle's view

The Kraken (5-2-1) had won three in a row and four of five before Thursday. Seattle coach Lane Lambert said earning a point after trailing in the third was a good result and suggested fatigue was a factor deep into a long road trip. "You start getting into game four and day eight or nine of a road trip and it starts to become fatiguing," Lambert said, according to NHL.com.

Seattle also lost defenseman Brandon Montour, the former Panther, to a lower-body injury in the second period. He did not return. The Kraken's Florida swing continues Saturday at 6 p.m. against the Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise.

What's next

The Lightning host the Vancouver Canucks at 4 p.m. Saturday at Benchmark International Arena, with television coverage on The Spot, according to the Times. Vancouver has lost six straight and arrives in Tampa after a 3-2 overtime loss in Sunrise on Thursday.

After Saturday, Tampa Bay begins a three-game Western swing at Vegas on Tuesday, Oct. 20, followed by stops in Colorado on Oct. 23 and Utah on Oct. 24, before returning home Oct. 29 against Winnipeg.