The dog days of the regular season are almost over. But until then, the Bolts managed a point in a shootout loss to Ottawa at home Thursday night.
It took almost half a period for either team to find a steady rhythm on offense. But a Brady Tkachuk wrister put Ottawa up one and a sparkplug in the Bolts, which quickly followed up with two scores of their own from Conor Sheary and Brayden Point.
Nikita Kucherov finished the night with two helpers—the beautifully precise kind typical of the NHL points leader—putting him at 98 assists on the season.
Matt Tomkins held his own with 25 saves on the night. But the Senators managed to claw their way back to overtime and a shootout, where Anton Forsberg locked things down for the 3-2 win.
The Bolts will look to build crucial momentum against the Caps Saturday as they head into the playoffs.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
OTT 1, TBL 0
8:45 Brady Tkachuk (35)
After a sluggish start on both ends, Brady Tkachuk opened the scoring for Ottawa with a 2-on-1 wrister past Matt Tomkins.
OTT 1, TBL 1
9:45 Conor Sheary (4) – Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point
Nikita Kucherov hit Conor Sheary in stride for the winger’s 4th goal of the season to even things up quickly for the Bolts. Sheary found action on the top line Thursday night for the Bolts, who were without Anthony Duclair due to illness
TBL 2, OTT 1
12:56 Brayden Point (45) – Nikita Kucherov, Conor Sheary
Another feed from Kucherov found Point in front of the net for a nifty backhand past Anton Forsberg. The assist put Kucherov just two shy of a historic 100 for the season.
2nd Period
Scoreless
3rd Period
TBL 2, OTT 2
2:11 Drake Batherson (28) – Brady Tkachuk, Thomas Chabot
Tkachuk hit Drake Batherson with a slick cross-ice feed on the odd-man rush for Batherson’s 28th goal of the season. The score came directly after the Bolts managed to kill a 5-on-3 power play to start the third.
Overtime
Scoreless
Shootout
Tkachuck beat Tomkins for a score and that was all the Senators needed, as the Bolts went 0-for-3 in the shootout.
