Lightning rally to win Stadium Series thriller over Bruins in shootout

The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Boston Bruins 6-5 in an instant classic in front of 64,617 fans at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday.

Jake Guentzel scored the shootout winner to complete the comeback for the Lightning, who trailed 5-1 earlier in the contest.

The four-goal comeback was the largest in NHL outdoor game history and the largest come-from-behind victory in Lightning franchise history.

Nikita Kucherov blasted home the equalizer midway through the third period to force OT. Kucherov also had three assists for a game-high four points.

David Pastrnak thought he buried the OT winner for the Bruins, but was unable to hear the whistle for a slashing infraction the refs called moments earlier. Boston frantically killed off the penalty to send the game to a shootout.

The Lightning scored three straight goals after Andrei Vasilevskiy got the better of Jeremy Swayman in the first outdoor goalie fight in NHL history. Vasilevskiy skated the length of the ice to challenge Swayman after the Bruins netminder took down Brandon Hagel in front of the Boston crease.

Hagel scored 11 seconds into the contest for the fastest opening goal in NHL outdoor game history. The Bruins dominated the rest of the period, building a 3-1 lead with goals from Alex Steeves, Morgan Geekie, and Viktor Arvidsson. Matt Poitras and Geekie found twine early in the middle frame to put the Bruins up 5-1.

It was all Tampa Bay the rest of the way, though. The Lightning took advantage of some costly Bruins penalties in the second frame with three straight power-play goals from Oliver Bjorkstrand, Darren Raddysh, and Nick Paul to get within one. The game remained 5-4 until Kucherov tied it up in the third.

Temperatures at Raymond James Stadium - home of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers - were measured at 41.8 degrees Fahrenheit (or 5.44 degrees Celsius) at puck drop. The ice surface had to be heated to avoid cracking. It was the first-ever outdoor NHL game in Tampa, and second-ever in the state of Florida after Miami's LoanDepot Park hosted the Winter Classic in January.