Florida Panthers give up lead late, fall to Tampa Bay Lightning in overtime

The stars came out on Friday night in Sunrise.

Matthew Tkachuck had a goal and an assist for the Florida Panthers.

Steven Stamkos had a goal and an assist for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves for the Panthers.

Andrei Vasilevskiy had 35 saves for the Lightning in a matchup of Grade A goalies.

In the end, however, the Lightning had a couple of extra talents on loan from the heavens as Brayden Point scored two goals, and Nikita Kucherov added two primary assists and the key play in overtime, leading Tampa Bay to a thrilling 3-2 victory.

Point scored the power-play game-winner with 2:52 left in the extra session, firing from the slot off a pass from Stamkos.

Kucherov drew the penalty that gave Tampa Bay the man advantage as his drive to the net forced a slash from Tkachuk.

Rudolf Balcers scored the other goal for the Panthers. At the time, it gave Florida a 2-1 lead, and it appeared it would be Balcers’ second straight game-winning tally.

Unfortunately for the Panthers, the Lightning rallied on Bobrovsky, who still helped the Panthers kill off five of Tampa Bay’s seven power-play opportunities, including two midway through the third period.

Stamkos extended his season-opening goals streak to five straight games. He has seven goals on the season. He started the night tied for the NHL lead with Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov.

Tkachuk extended his season-opening points streak to five straight games. He has eight points this season.

Tampa Bay opened the scoring with 13:04 gone in the first period, getting a Stamkos power-play goal just 18 seconds after Sam Bennett was sent off for tripping Mikhail Sergachev. On the goal, Kucherov slipped a pass to Stamkos, who scored on a one-timer from the left circle.

Florida tied the score with 15:48 expired in the first as Tkachuk tipped in a backhanded shot by Brandon Montour.

The Panthers finished the first period with an 18-8 advantage in shots on goal.In the second period, Florida killed off two penalties, including a second tripping call on Bennett.

Then, with 4:23 left in the second, the Panthers took their first lead of the game, 2-1, on Balcers’ goal. Playing just his fifth game with the Panthers, Balcers scored his second goal, pouncing on a loose puck and backhanding it past Vasilevskiy. Tkachuk earned the primary assist.

Tampa Bay tied the score 2-2 on Point’s tip-in goal with 10:31 left in the third. Kucherov had the primary assist again.

THIS AND THAT

▪ Prior to the game, Florida signed six-time All-Star forward Eric Staal, 37, to a one-year contract. He will join his brother, defenseman Marc Staal, 35, on the Panthers roster.

Eric Staal won a Stanley Cup title in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes. He also won Olympic gold with Canada in 2010.

Staal has several Carolina franchise records, including consecutive games (349), most postseason points (43) and most hat tricks in one season (four).

Eric, Marc and Jordan Staal — who plays for Carolina — are the first trio of brothers to each play at least 1,000 NHL games.

On Friday, however, Marc was the only Staal brother to play for the Panthers. Eric’s debut is imminent.

▪ Florida will end its three-game homestand on Sunday at 5 p.m. against the New York Islanders. The Panthers opened their season on Oct. 13 with a 3-1 win at the Islanders.