by Murat Karul

In a thrilling Tuesday night matchup, the Tampa Bay Lightning staged a remarkable comeback against the struggling Los Angeles Kings, ultimately triumphing 3-2 in overtime. Nick Perbix, breaking a 40-game goal drought, secured the victory with a goal just 2:03 into the extra period.

Notably, Jon Cooper, Lightning’s head coach, achieved a significant milestone by becoming the third-fastest NHL coach to reach 500 wins. His accomplishment places him behind only Scotty Bowman and Bruce Boudreau in terms of speed, making him the fastest to achieve this feat with a single franchise, and the 29th overall to reach the milestone.

Reflecting on the achievement, Cooper expressed his surprise, stating, “Man, I never thought I’d coach one game in this league, let alone win 500 of them. It sneaks up on you, I’ll tell you that.”

The Lightning’s victory also saw goals from Tyler Motte and Brandon Hagel, with Andrei Vasilevskiy making 20 crucial saves. The Kings, facing a six-game losing streak, received goals from Phillip Danault and Matt Roy, while Trevor Moore marked his 300th game as the 37th undrafted player to achieve this milestone.

Despite a challenging stretch, Kings coach Todd McLellan remains optimistic, saying, “We’ll figure a way out. I don’t think confidence is just lost. You play yourself into confidence, or you play yourself out of confidence.”

Looking ahead, the Kings are set to face off against the Florida Panthers on Thursday night, while the Lightning will host the New Jersey Devils in their next matchup.