TAMPA, Fla. – Ondrej Palat scored a pair of third-period goals, and the Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 on Thursday night.
Steven Stamkos also scored in his fourth straight game for the Lightning, who overtook the idle New York Islanders atop the East.
Tampa Bay finished a run of 21 games that included a 6-0-1 record against Edmonton, Buffalo and Carolina, the NHL’s worst three teams. The Lightning went 5-8-1 against other opponents during that stretch.
Edmonton, which has lost 14 consecutive road games, got two goals from Benoit Pouliot. He has scored the last five Oilers goals.
After Palat scored from in-close at 1:33 of the third, he made it 3-2 from the slot with 8:01 to play. It was the first time Tampa Bay has won when trailing after two periods (1-13-1).
Edmonton took a 2-1 lead on Pouliot’s second of the game, coming on a goal-mouth scramble during a power play with 57.3 seconds left in the second period. The left wing has a four-game goal streak.
Pouliot put the Oilers ahead 1-0 with a short-handed rebound goal at 13:52 of the first.
Stamkos tied it 7:10 into the second on his 26th goal from the right circle. Matt Carle set it up right after serving a penalty.
During a one-minute stretch late in the second, Edmonton’s Nail Yakupov hit the post, and Stamkos missed the net with an in-close shot and had another scoring chance blocked by defenceman Anton Lander.
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