The Tampa Bay Lightning suffered their first loss of the season in Ottawa on Saturday despite numerous pushbacks in a weekend matinee.
The home team never trailed in the 5-4 victory at Canadian Tire Centre after a 5-on-3 power play in the first two minutes of the game led to a goal by the Senators’ Drake Batherson for a 1-0 lead. Ottawa led 2-0 late in the first period before Nikita Kucherov scored his seventh goal of the season to get the Lightning on the scoreboard.
Kucherov’s goal is the most in franchise history through the first four games of a season. Tampa Bay forwards Nick Paul and Anthony Cirelli connected to tie the game in the opening frames of the second period, marking the start of what was a chaotic middle period.
Ottawa regained the advantage, 3-2, less than three minutes after Paul’s goal, but Jake Guentzel helped Tampa Bay erase a deficit for the third time in the game on his first goal as a Bolt in the closing minutes of the second period.
A late penalty led to Ottawa regaining the lead on a Brady Tkachuk power-play goal before the end of the second.
A short-handed goal by Noah Gregor extended the Senators’ lead to 5-3 in the third period before Lightning forward Mitchell Chaffee got the visitors within a goal of Ottawa by deflecting a pass from defenseman Nick Perbix.
Tampa Bay, now 3-1-0 this season, plays in Toronto on Monday.
Scoring Summary
First Period
OTT 1, TBL 0
1:50 Drake Batherson (2) - Claude Giroux, Jake Sanderson - PP
The home team took advantage of a 5-on-3 power play in the opening minutes of the first period to claim the first goal of the game. Batherson buried a one-timer on a slap shot from the top of the left circle, burying the pass from Giroux at the top of the umbrella power play.
OTT 2, TBL 0
13:21 Josh Norris (3) - Claude Giroux, Drake Batherson
The Senators doubled their lead after a push from the Lightning when Claude Giroux drove down the right wall toward the net and dished to Josh Norris, who scored on a wrister from the high slot.
Shots: OTT 8, TBL 6
Second Period
OTT 2, TBL 1
1:59 Nikita Kucherov (7) - Ryan McDonagh, Erik Cernak
Nikita Kucherov scored in his fourth-straight game to get the Lightning started less than two minutes into the second period. Kucherov wired a one-timer from the right faceoff circle off a pass from defenseman Ryan McDonagh.
OTT 2, TBL 2
10:39 Nick Paul (1) - Anthony Cirelli
Nick Paul pulled the Lightning even with the Senators midway through the second period. Anthony Cirelli found a bouncing puck in front of the Ottawa net on a rush and tapped the puck back to a waiting Paul atop the crease. Paul shoveled the puck through a crowd of defenders acting as a screen in front of Senators goalie Anton Forsberg.
OTT 3, TBL 2
13:20 Drake Batherson (3) - Unassisted
Drake Batherson scored his second goal of the game to regain the Ottawa lead less than three minutes after the Bolts tied the game on Nick Paul’s tally.
OTT 3, TBL 3
18:13 Jake Guentzel (1) - Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov
Jake Guentzel scored his first goal in blue and white to tie the game for the third time late in the second period. Guentzel batted a puck to the ice before sneaking it through the pads of Anton Forsberg.
OTT 4, TBL 3
18:56 Brady Tkachuk (2) - Jake Sanderson, Tim Stützle - PP
Captain Brady Tkachuk utilized the Senators’ second power-play goal of the game to score the fifth and final goal of the second period on Saturday. Tkachuk converted a rebound after a point shot from Jake Sanderson.
Shots: OTT 12, TBL 13
Third Period
OTT 5, TBL 3
6:17 Noah Gregor (1) - Shane Pinto - SHG
The Senators scored on a 2-on-1 while shorthanded. Pinto passed a puck through a sliding Tampa Bay defender, and Gregor finished the play backdoor.
OTT 5, TBL 4
8:11 Mitchell Chaffee (1) - Nick Perbix (1), Anthony Cirelli (3)
Forward Mitchell Chaffee got his first goal of the season and defenseman Nick Perbix tallied his first assist of the year as Tampa Bay slashed its deficit to a single goal with just over 11 minutes remaining in the game. Perbix pushed to the left corner with the puck and sent a pass toward the net, one that Chaffee deflected home for the goal.
Total shots on goal: TBL 29, OTT 28
