from Ira Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune,

It wasn’t pretty, and it certainly wasn’t easy, but the Tampa Bay Lightning made history Saturday evening.

Alex Killorn’s goal late in overtime lifted the Lightning to a 4-3 triumph against the pesky Carolina Hurricanes before an announced crowd of 19,092 at Amalie Arena as Tampa Bay set a franchise mark with its ninth consecutive win.

Tyler Johnson scored with 6:18 remaining in regulation off a nifty feed from Nikita Kucherov to help the Lightning rally after they were in danger of losing a lead entering the third period for only the second time all season.

Ondrej Palat scored Tampa Bay’s first two goals but the league’s No. 3 home power play went 0-for-4, including six minutes with a man advantage in the third period alone.

“I think it’s cool to break a record,’’ said Johnson, who outmuscled Carolina center Derek Ryan in front and converted Kucherov’s pass from behind the net for the tying score. “You’ve got to be proud, but at the same time, we have to move on.’’

The 2003-04 Lightning reeled off eight consecutive wins during their journey to the NHL championship.

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