The Lightning gutted out a crucial win in regulation, a victory that brought them two points closer to the Ottawa Senators in the standings.
For the Lightning, the opening 20 minutes resembled many of the periods they’ve experienced in 2025. They outplayed the opposition, created numerous chances that didn’t result in a goal, and saw the other team convert on an isolated look. Shot attempts in the first period were 29-12 in favor of Tampa Bay, and five of Ottawa’s 12 attempts came on the power-play chance that yielded Mike Amadio’s goal. In other words, the Lightning decisively carried five-on-five action. But as has been the case recently, they ran into a dialed-in goaltender. Linus Ullmark was making his first appearance since December 22 but didn’t show signs of rust. He stopped 14 first-period shots to keep the Lightning off the board. The Sens didn’t generate much of an attack during the frame, except when they received their power-play chance. A bad bounce worked against the Lightning on the goal. Andrei Vasilevskiy made a stick save on David Perron’s shot and, in doing so, attempted to direct the puck away from the crease. Instead, the puck deflected off Ridly Greig and bounced back on goal. Vasilevskiy stopped the second shot. It then came to Emil Lilleberg at the top of the crease, but he couldn’t control it cleanly. Amadio swooped in and swept the puck into the net at 14:09.
Lightning players didn’t allow the frustration of being down after one period to affect their performance. Instead, they kept pressing the attack, and, at 1:44 of the middle stanza, they tied the game. Luke Glendening deflected Lilleberg’s left-point shot over Ullmark’s glove. Soon after, they received back-to-back power-play opportunities. On the second of those chances, they grabbed the lead. Nikita Kucherov’s one-timer from the right circle beat Ullmark on the glove side.
The Senators were outpossessed for much of the game, but they had some strong segments. One of those came after the Kucherov tally. The Sens applied pressure for the next couple of shifts and evened the score with a Claude Giroux goal from the slot.
Ottawa also finished the second period well. The Sens had a goal disallowed due to goalie interference (the correct call) and generated two other Grade-A looks. Vasilevskiy stopped a Greig shot from the slot, and Drake Batherson missed wide on a breakaway.
In a number of games this year, the Lightning have been tied in the third period, and the other team has made the big play. On this night, the Lightning were the team to make the big play in the final frame. Already missing Nick Paul, who left the game early in the first, the Lightning started the third without Anthony Cirelli. Using a makeshift line of Jake Guentzel (at center), Brandon Hagel, and Mitchell Chaffee, the Lightning retook the lead. Hagel picked off a puck in the defensive zone and countered on a three-on-two. He skated to the slot and zipped a shot over Ullmark’s glove at 1:56.
(Just over a minute later, Cirelli returned. So the Lightning finished the game down only one forward. The Sens also lost a forward in the first period when Shane Pinto was injured, so they too played most of the game with just 11 forwards.)
The Lightning built momentum off Hagel’s goal and buzzed in the offensive zone for the next several minutes. The Senators didn’t record a shot until the period was almost eight-and-a-half minutes old. But that first shot on goal was one of Ottawa’s best scoring chances in the game. On a two-on-one, Cole Reinhardt set up Giroux in the slot. It appeared Giroux had a wide-open net. But Vasilevsky stopped Giroux’s shot with his right pad. Over the next couple of minutes, the Sens registered six additional shots on net. Several of those were dangerous, including an Amadio look from the low slot after an initial Ottawa shot went wide of the net and ricocheted to the other side of the cage. But Vasilevskiy saved all six, preserving the lead.
Another big moment came at 16:14 when Ryan McDonagh was whistled for tripping. The red-hot Ottawa power play had a chance to tie the game. But the Lightning delivered a terrific kill, holding the Senators to just one shot on net. Ottawa pulled Ullmark for an extra attacker during the second half of the man advantage. Ullmark was still on the bench when McDonagh left the box. Hedman shot the puck down the ice, and McDonagh was the first skater to the puck, negating the icing. He calmly stepped to the right circle and wristed the puck into the empty net at 18:25.
Fifteen seconds later, Batherson scored off the rush. So the final 80 seconds were anxious ones for the Lightning. But they applied some up-ice pressure to help kill much of the remaining time. They also got a couple of key blocks from McDonagh, including one that forced a Giroux right-circle shot wide of the net with just seven seconds remaining.
After having played in Nashville on Monday, night, the Sens were finishing up a tough back-to-back. They’ll be more rested when the teams conclude this two-game set on Thursday.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
- Brandon Hagel — Lightning. Goal.
- Andrei Vasilevskiy — Lightning. 25 saves.
- Claude Giroux — Senators. Goal.
