Dominic James scored in the fifth round of a shootout and the Tampa Bay Lightning made it 15 straight games without a regulation loss, outlasting the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 on Friday night.
Tampa Bay is on a 14-0-1 tear, winning three straight after a shootout loss a week ago in St. Louis. The Lighting are 32-13-4 overall.
Nikita Kucherov tied it at 1 late in the second period with his 25th goal of the season and also scored in the shootout. Gage Goncalves scored in the fourth round of the tiebreaker to keep Tampa Bay alive and, after Oliver Moore failed for Chicago, James slipped the winner past Arvid Soderblom.
Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 17 shots for Tampa Bay.
Ryan Greene scored for Chicago, and Soderblom made 30 saves. Chicago had won two straight, beating Carolina 4-3 in shootout Friday night in Raleigh.
Andre Burakovsky nearly ended it for Chicago in overtime, but couldn’t get the puck in at the side of that net as it slid across the crease.
Tampa Bay outshot Chicago 13-2 in the second period and had a 21-6 overall advantage through 40 minutes. Both teams were 0 for 3 on the power play.
Kucherov tied it with 1:18 left in the second. He cut through the slot, taking Brandon Hagel’s pass on his forehand and lifting in a backhander.
Greene opened the scoring on a power play with 2:18 left in the first period with a goal that withstood a lengthy review after the Lightning challenged for offsides. Greene cut across the front and beat Vasilevskiy with a forehand shot.
Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno fought Jack Finley early in the first, with Finley getting an extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Up next
Lightning: At Columbus on Saturday night.
Blackhawks: Host Florida on Sunday.
