Brandon Hagel broke a third-period tie with his 23rd goal and the host Tampa Bay Lightning snapped Ottawa’s five-game winning streak in a wild 4-3 victory over the Senators on Tuesday.
Locked in a 2-all tie in the first of two straight home matches with Ottawa, the Lightning saw Hagel grab a puck on the half boards, center a three-on-two rush and hit the net himself at 1:56 for the club’s third win in eight games (3-4-1).
Ryan McDonagh hopped out of the penalty box and scored into an empty net, but Ottawa pulled goalie Linus Ullmark (34 saves) again and Drake Batherson scored 15 seconds later. The Lightning then ran out the final 80 seconds for the win.
Tampa Bay’s Luke Glendening scored and Nikita Kucherov netted on a power play. Victor Hedman had two assists, while goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy posted his 22nd win with 25 saves.
The Lightning won for just the fourth time against Atlantic Division competition (4-9-0).
Michael Amadio and Claude Giroux also tallied as the Senators completed a back-to-back set. Ottawa’s Thomas Chabot had two assists.
The hosts held an early 10-2 shot advantage behind the game’s first power play, but found the first lead on its first man advantage.
After Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak went off for unsportsmanlike conduct, David Perron whipped a shot on Vasilevskiy, who failed to control it. Amadio stabbed at the rebound to make it 1-0 at 14:09.
The Lightning controlled much of the offensive play in the frame and held a 14-8 shot advantage.
In the second period, both clubs were down a forward, as Ottawa’s Shane Pinto and Tampa Bay’s Nick Paul did not return to the ice and were ruled out for the game’s remainder.
Glendening wasted little time in tying it, deflecting Emil Lilleberg’s shot in for just his third goal only 1:44 in.
On the Lightning’s third power play, they finally connected when Kucherov completed a give-and-go with Hedman, notching his 25th tally at 7:38 for their first lead.
However, Giroux found the equalizer from near the high slot, whistling a shot through a screen by newcomer Cole Reinhardt less than two minutes later.
–Field Level Media
