Dmitri Simashev scored 1:44 into overtime to lift the Utah Mammoth to a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday at Delta Center.
Tampa Bay opened the scoring 5:10 into the game on an unassisted goal by Jake Guentzel. Kailer Yamamoto answered for Utah less than two minutes later with an unassisted wrist shot. Pontus Holmberg restored the Lightning lead with a snap shot at 10:06, and Brayden Point extended the advantage to 3-1 on a power-play backhand at 12:42. Dylan Guenther cut the deficit to 3-2 for Utah with a power-play slap shot at 17:39 of the opening frame.
Conor Geekie put Tampa Bay up 4-2 at 5:32 of the second period with a wrist shot. Utah then answered with two straight goals to pull even before the intermission. Anders Lee redirected a shot at 14:39 to make it 4-3, and Simashev scored his first goal of the season on a snap shot at 17:02 to tie the game at 4-4. Simashev settled the contest in overtime with a wrist shot off assists from Barrett Hayton and goaltender Karel Vejmelka.
Vejmelka stopped 29 of 32 shots and earned an assist on the winning goal for Utah. Dennis Hildeby made 23 saves on 28 shots for the Lightning. Both clubs converted once on three power-play opportunities, while Utah controlled the faceoff circle by winning 45 of 74 draws.
The win moved the Mammoth to an 8-4-0 record on the season and gave them a 1-0 advantage in the regular-season series against Tampa Bay. The Lightning moved to 7-3-1 and are winless in two consecutive games (0-1-1).
Utah remains at home to face the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday. Tampa Bay returns home to host the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday.
