Tampa Bay winner after overtime thriller

After over 150 minutes played, in one of the longest ice hockey games in the NHL ever, Brayden Point put his second puck in the net for the evening, giving Tampa Bay the 3-2 victory.

- It was definitely tiring, but after a while it was just extra fun. Both teams had good chances, says the match hero after the winning goal.

According to Piont, having to play four and a half overtime periods is not something you can prepare for.

- It was extra much to drink during the period breaks. Lots of food and drink - you have to keep up the energy levels, he says.

Last season, Tampa Bay was superior in the NHL's regular season, only to be shocked directly in the Stanley Cup playoffs where Columbus sent the Florida team out in four straight games.

Fate wanted Tampa Bay - seeded second in the Eastern Conference - to face Columbus even in this year's delayed and corona-adjusted playoffs, which are now starting in earnest with the quarterfinals. And it looks like it could be a tough task to get past the first Stanley Cup round this time too.

Tampa Bay came into play with the Swedish hill giant Victor Hedman, who was a question mark after stepping off the ice with an ankle injury this weekend. When the final whistle blew, Hedman had played over 57 minutes of ice hockey.

- It is a play-off and it takes a lot to stand over a match, he says.

- I had never been able to imagine that there would be eight periods. But it actually felt really good and I'm really looking forward to the next (match), he continues.

If the match ended with a goal drought, the reverse can be said about the start, where it did not even take three minutes before Pierre-Luc Dubois unknowingly steered Alexandre Texier's shot to 1-0 for Columbus in front of empty stands in Toronto. In the same way, Brayden Point netted with his leg when he steered Nikita Kutjerov's shot to 1-1 after 6.27, a goal where Hedman also got an assist.

The next goal was nicer and came with only 48 seconds left of the second period. Danish-American Oliver Bjorkstrand stood by the rim and sent the puck up in the first cross, above Andrei Vasilevsky's shoulder, to 2-1 for Columbus.

Tampa Bay rose again. The third period was only 23 seconds old when Columbus goalkeeper Joonas Korpisalo lay on the ice and a little unhappily kicked in 2-2 in his own box, a goal that was credited to Yanni Gourde.

There were no more goals in regular time, where Tampa Bay won the shooting statistics by 41-26. Add five extension periods and the shooting statistics are written up to 88-63.

As the meeting between Tampa Bay and Columbus dragged on, the match between Boston and Carolina was postponed by one day.

In the second NHL bubble in Edmonton, Calgary defeated Dallas 3-2. Rasmus Andersson scored Calgary's decisive goal in the second period, the third was goalless.

Mikael Backlund and Erik Gustafsson are noted for each assist, to two different goals by Dillon Dube, in the first period.