Nick Paul makes instant impact in return as Lightning beat Oilers in OT

Eduardo A. Encina, Tampa Bay Times on Nov 20, 2025

Published in Hockey

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TAMPA, Fla. — Nick Paul returned to the Lightning lineup Thursday night against Edmonton, and he certainly made his presence felt.

After missing the first 19 games of the regular season recovering from preseason left wrist surgery, Paul knew it might take him a while to get readjusted to the pace of NHL hockey.

But when the Lightning needed an offensive spark late in the third period, he was there to provide it.

After nearly 58 minutes of being unable to break through against the league’s fourth-worst scoring defense, Paul scored the tying goal with 2:32 left in regulation.

Jake Guentzel, who had a hat trick on Tuesday night against New Jersey, then scored with 3:17 left in the 3-on-3 overtime, taking a pass from Darren Raddysh on the rush for the winner.

His goal came just seconds after Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped Jack Roslovic’s shot by extending his right pad.

Lightning coach Jon Cooper, who returned to the bench after missing Tuesday’s game due to “personal reasons,” put his lines in a blender hoping to get something going offensively, and Paul found himself with different linemates throughout the night.

On his tying goal, Paul took the puck into the offensive zone, fought off Connor McDavid’s backcheck and flung the puck through traffic past Edmonton goaltender Calvin Pickard over his glove side shoulder.

Edmonton came to Tampa allowing 3.64 goals a game and were fresh off allowing seven goals in a loss at Washington the previous night.