Although the final score was lopsided, the game was close until the closing minutes. Neither team managed to score a goal until the late stages of the second period, and the game was tied at one entering the third. But the Senators, holding onto the final playoff spot in the East, decisively won the final period to pick up an important two points in the standings.
During the first two periods, both clubs had some moments when they carried play. (The Sens enjoyed more of those segments in the second period, a frame in which they held the Lightning to just 11 shot attempts.) But both goalies did well to turn aside opposition chances. The Sens, who are a very dangerous transition team, finally broke the scoreless tie with a goal off the rush. Defenseman Jordan Spence joined Brady Tkachuk on a two-on-one, and Spence roofed a right-circle shot over the glove of Jonas Johansson at 15:46 of the second. But the Lightning answered before the period ended. A Corey Perry cross-ice pass from the left circle hit off Tkachuk’s skate and bounced to Nick Paul in front of the net. Paul put a backhand shot off the post and in to tie the game at 18:23.
The Senators broke that tie with a pair of goals early in the third. But before that happened, the Lightning almost got the lead themselves. Off an offensive-zone faceoff, Jake Guentzel jumped on a loose puck in the low slot and hit the post. Soon after, Tkachuk collected a puck in the offensive zone and banked it off the side of the Lightning net. It caromed towards the blue line, where Fabian Zetterlund grabbed it and shot. It nicked off a Lightning player and deflected past Johansson at 2:45. Less than two minutes later, Jake Sanderson rushed the puck down the right wing, brought it to the net, and lost control of it. Still, it slid past Johansson to extend the lead.
The Lightning pushed back over the next several minutes and pulled to within a goal at 10:35. Ryan McDonagh sold a shot from the high slot and instead directed the puck to Perry at the side of the net. Perry redirected it over Linus Ullmark.
Ullmark preserved the lead for Ottawa when he robbed Jakob Pelletier’s shot from the slot with a lunging glove save. Then Yanni Gourde was whistled for a penalty, and the Sens converted after a goalmouth scramble—Tim Stutzle chipped in a rebound at 12:51 after Johansson couldn’t cover a loose puck in the crease. The Lightning challenged for goalie interference, since Dylan Cozens had knocked the puck loose with his skate, but they lost the challenge. Officials ruled Paul had pushed Cozens into the crease. The Sens immediately scored a fifth goal during the ensuring power play. Off a zone entry, Tkachuk sent Sanderson in alone for a breakaway goal at 13:04. In a 13-second span, Ottawa had broken the game open.
A late empty-net shorthanded goal for Shane Pinto set the final at 6-2.
The Lightning now head to Montreal, where they will face the Canadiens on Thursday. At night’s end on Tuesday, the Lightning, Buffalo Sabres, and Canadiens were all tied atop the Atlantic Division with 102 points.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Pat Maroon):
- Brady Tkachuk — Senators. Four assists.
- Jake Sanderson — Senators. Two goals.
- Nick Paul — Lightning. Goal and assist.
