Point, Kucherov combine for 9 points, Lightning top Senators

OTTAWA -- Brayden Point had a hat trick and an assist, and Nikita Kucherov had a goal and four assists for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 6-4 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.

“I think it all started with [Kucherov] dumping pucks in and showing us how to play, how to play hard,” Lightning forward Michael Eyssimont said. “He led us tonight all night. Not just on the score sheet, but the way he played.”

Eyssimont and Victor Hedman also scored for Tampa Bay (5-3-3), which earned its first road win of the season after starting 0-3-1 away from home. Jonas Johansson made 24 saves.

“We were playing pretty soundly,” Point said. “Obviously, Ottawa’s such a dangerous team. So good off the rush and they can really score on any chance they get. But for the most part, I thought we did a good job in the first two periods kind of limiting their chances and limiting their team speed.”

Brady Tkachuk had two goals and an assist, and Claude Giroux and Drake Batherson scored for the Senators (4-6-0). Joonas Korpisalo allowed three goals on 20 shots before being replaced midway through the second period by Anton Forsberg, who made 14 saves on 17 shots.

“I just thought they came out harder than us in the first period,” Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. “They’re on the right side of the puck. We scored first and their top players came to play today. The second period, they took it to us and put a ton of [offensive] zone time on us, and we weren’t able to bounce back.”

Tkachuk gave the Senators a 1-0 lead at 12:58 of the first period, tipping in Mathieu Joseph's wrist shot.

Hedman tied it 1-1 at 17:05 when he got to a loose puck in the low slot and scored with a backhand.

“I think every time we scored, the next shift they scored. That can’t happen,” Ottawa forward Tim Stützle said. “We’ve got to be more detailed there and more focused, and we can’t turn pucks over. If we score, we have momentum and then it takes everything away again if you have to score right after.”

Point put Tampa Bay ahead 2-1 with a wrist shot short side on a 2-on-2 rush 32 seconds into the second period.

Eyssimont made it 3-1 at 4:57 with a highlight-reel goal. He split the defense on a rush and roofed a backhand while falling to the ice.

“I don’t know if tenacity has ever been a problem with him, to be honest,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “That’s kind of what he brings every single night. … He never stops on plays, and he didn’t stop on that one and he was rewarded.”

Point extended it to 4-1 at 18:19 when he jammed at a loose puck under Forsberg and it trickled across the goal line.

Giroux cut it to 4-2 at 1:17 of the third period with a one-timer from the point.

Point completed the hat trick to make it 5-2 at 9:38, redirecting Steven Stamkos' pass at the edge of the crease on a power play.

Tkachuk got the Senators to within 5-3 at 11:08, scoring with a wrist shot from the right face-off dot on a power play. It was Tkachuk’s fourth multigoal game of the season.

“We’re right there,” Tkachuk said. “It’s frustrating that we’re facing a ton of adversity right now, but in here there’s no quit and there never has been. I don’t think we’ve ever showed a time where we’ve quit on the people that paid money to support us. I think it’s non-negotiable in our group that we finish hard no matter what and we leave it out there.”

Kucherov responded 16 seconds later to make it 6-3, chipping the puck over Forsberg’s blocker in tight.

“It was a game of responses, to be honest,” Cooper said. “They get the first one and we came back and tied it, and I thought that was big. And then we come out in the second and score early, and then when the game got a little hectic, I think Brady [Tkachuk] scored and we scored right after that.

“And I thought that was big for us. Every time there was a little adversity for us, we responded and we pulled it on.”

Batherson slid the puck five-hole on Johansson at 12:14 for the 6-4 final.

NOTES: Kucherov’s five-point game was his fourth in the NHL, passing Vincent Lecavalier (three) for most in Lightning history. … Point became the 10th player in Tampa Bay history to score multiple hat tricks in his career. His only previous hat trick came on Nov. 15, 2018. … Johansson is 4-0-3 in his past seven starts. … Senators forward Roby Jarventie had one hit in 6:38 of ice time in his NHL debut.