TAMPA, Fla. — Nikita Kucherov scored the tying goal in the third period, Jake Guentzel scored the only goal in the shootout and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied from a four-goal deficit to beat the Boston Bruins 6-5 in front of 64,617 fans at an NHL Stadium Series game at Raymond James Stadium.
Kucherov finished with a goal and three assists, Brandon Hagel had a goal and two assists, and Oliver Bjorkstrand, Darren Raddysh and Nick Paul all scored power-play goals after Tampa Bay fell behind 5-1 in the second period.
Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 29 saves.
Tampa Bay’s four-goal comeback is the largest in NHL outdoor game history and the largest comeback victory in franchise history.
Morgan Geekie had a pair of goals and three points, and Viktor Arvidsson, Alex Steeves and Matthew Poitras also scored for the Bruins. Charlie McAvoy had a pair of assists, and Jeremy Swayman finished with 41 saves.
The game featured the first goalie fight in outdoor game history when Vasilevskiy and Swayman exchanged blows at center ice in the second period.
Kucherov capped Tampa Bay’s rally with a one-timer from the left circle with 8:10 left in the third period.
With an opening puck drop temperature of 41.8 degrees Fahrenheit (5.44 Celsius), Hagel fired up the crowd with a goal just 11 seconds in — the fastest goal in NHL outdoor game history and tying a franchise record for fastest goal to start a game.
The Bruins scored the next five goals as Steeves, Geekie and Arvidsson all scored within 7:39 to give Boston a 3-1 lead after the first. Poitras scored on a backhander at 2:22 of the second period, and Geekie notched his second of the game at 8:18.
Bjorkstrand scored at 10:28 to make it 5-2.
The Lightning scored a pair of five-on-three power-play goals 23 seconds apart. Raddysh tallied a goal for the fourth consecutive game to set a franchise record for a defenseman. Paul then tapped in a pass from Guentzel to make it 5-4.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
