• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Lightning aim for first three-game winning streak

Dec 27, 2008 - 11:33 AM Florida (16-13-5) at Tampa Bay (9-16-9) 7:30 p.m. EST

TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- The Tampa Bay Lightning are making a run at their first extended winning streak.

The Lightning will be looking for their third straight win when they face the Florida Panthers in the second half of a home-and-home series on Saturday.

Tampa Bay owns the second-worst record in the NHL with 27 points but is coming off back-to-back wins for the first time since November 1. The 4-3 shootout victory over the Panthers was the club's first shootout win since November 1 as well.

Defenseman Steve Eminger recorded a goal and two assists and Ryan Malone tallied the shootout winner on Friday. Veteran Mark Recchi and Evgeny Artyukhin also scored in regulation for the Lightning.

The Lightning had jumped to a 3-1 lead with a pair of goals late in the second period but Florida chipped away in the third, finally forging a tie when defenseman Bryan McCabe scored with 14 seconds remaining to force overtime.

The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for the Panthers, who have gained at least a point in each of their last four games.

Panthers netminder Tomas Vokoun, who had stopped 55 straight shots and was coming off a pair of shutouts, allowed all three regulation goals before being replaced by Craig Anderson to start the third period.