Senators stop the Lightning in shootout

The Senators defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night, marking the third victory in four meetings this season.

Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson scored in regulation for Ottawa, and Anton Forsberg stopped 24 of 26 shots as well as all three shooters he faced in the shootout for the Sens' win.

“I like how we persevered and stayed with it after kind of a slow start,” said interim head coach Jacques Martin. “I thought we were much more physical in the second period and then quicker to get the puck behind their D and created some chances and opportunities.”

Brady Tkachuk opened the scoring at the 8:45 mark of the opening period when he took a long pass from Jakob Chychrun and put it past Matt Tomkins to give the Senators the lead.

The lead didn’t last long as Tampa Bay answered back exactly one minute later on a goal from Conor Sheary assisted by Nikita Kucherov for his 140th assist of the season.

Only a few minutes later, Kucherov assisted again, this time on a goal from Brayden Point, to give the Lightning the lead before the end of the first.

The second period saw a wealth of power play opportunities from both teams, including a five-on-three man advantage for both teams. Despite all the special teams action, neither team could add to their side of the scoresheet.

“Going four-for-four (on the penalty kill) with one five-on-three with their lineup and the numbers they put up this year, it's a lot of credit to the guys,” explained Forsberg. “It's a huge thing for us in these games; we need to be good in our special teams and today we got it done and got these two points.”

The third period started with more fruitless power plays for both sides. However, it was an even-strength Drake Batherson goal that finally tied the game for the Senators with just over ten minutes to play.

The rest of the third saw a few scoring chances for each team, but the goaltending stood up to the task. Even in overtime, both Tomkins and Forsberg made big saves to force overtime.

In the shootout, Forsberg stopped all three shooters he faced and is now 11 and 12 in shootout attempts for the season. Tkachuk made good on his first career shootout goal to give the Senators the win.

“I’m not sure which TV station was giving me grief for that stat in the shootouts, but just glad to get one and go from there,” added Brady Tkachuk.

The Senators now fly home to play the Montreal Canadiens in the final regular season game of year at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.