Tampa, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Martin St. Louis scored on a rebound 1:16 into overtime as the Tampa Bay Lightning took a 6-5 win from the Chicago Blackhawks from Times Forum.
After Steven Stamkos scored his second goal of the game with 2:29 left in regulation to put the Lightning ahead 5-4, Jonathan Toews was credited with a goal on a Tampa Bay miscue less than a minute later to force overtime.
In the extra session, Radko Gudas ripped a shot at Nikolai Khabibulin, who coughed up the rebound which allowed St. Louis to wrist home the game-winner.
"I really felt like we just stuck with it," St. Louis said. "Our power play got us some big goals today and we were able to put it away in overtime."
Matthew Carle, Nate Thompson and Victor Hedman also scored for Tampa Bay, which took the first meeting with Chicago in a shootout, 3-2, earlier this season.
Ben Bishop had 38 saves to earn the win between the pipes.
Khabibulin stopped just 19-of-25 shots for the Blackhawks, who had won five of six games entering Thursday's tilt. Bryan Bickell, Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane and Andrew Shaw all netted goals in defeat.
The Lightning broke a 4-4 tie when Valtteri Filppula won a faceoff back to Stamkos, who wasted no time in firing a slap shot past a screened Khabibulin.
Tampa coughed up the lead moments later, however, when Toews skated through the neutral zone and lost the puck to Carle, who tried to send it back to Gudas to reset, but it took a deflection and scooted past Bishop.
Carle netted the lone first-period goal with a slapper from the blue line on a feed from Filppula, who skated around the right point and drew attention off Carle before feeding him.
Thompson put the Lightning on top 2-0 early in the second period with a shorthanded goal. A deflection near Bishop led to a Tampa 2-on-1 advantage, which it executed perfectly. B.J. Crombeen carried the puck towards Khabibulin before dishing off to Thompson, who quickly wristed it into the net.
The Blackhawks tied it on a pair of goals in the middle portion of the second. Bickell scored on the power play on a rebound of Brent Seabrook's shot from the point, and Hossa tapped in a Patrick Sharp blast 1:36 later. The referees looked to see if Hossa played the puck with a high stick, but the goal was upheld.
Stamkos put the Lightning back in front late in the second when he skated the length of the ice, deked past two defenders and fired a wrister past Khabibulin. Once again, Chicago had the answer, as Kane went five-hole on a breakaway with 1:07 left in the period.
"I thought going into the third period we didn't give up much. We were playing the right way," Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville said. "Things got a little bit different than we've seen in any third period this year. I guess it was one of those nights where the puck was going in."
Shaw's first of the season came on a power play early in the third period. Kane unleashed a shot from the left point at Bishop, which Shaw got a stick on before it found the back of the net for a 4-3 Chicago lead.
Midway through the third, Hedman started an odd-man rush when he pushed the disc ahead to Stamkos. He found St. Louis, who skated into Chicago territory before dropping a pass to a surging Hedman, who took advantage of a Stamkos screen and put it through the legs of Khabibulin with 8:57 remaining in regulation.
Game Notes
Tampa has now won five in a row against the defending Stanley Cup champs ... The Lightning improved to 4-2-0 on its current seven-game homestand. They wrap it up on Saturday against Buffalo, whom they beat 3-2 in overtime earlier this season ... Tampa went 2-for-4 on the power-play ... Stamkos and Filppula had two assists apiece.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.