Some late scoring added to the excitement on Tuesday, but the Tampa Bay Lightning held on for a 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators at AMALIE Arena.
Ottawa took advantage of a power play with 5:51 left in the first period, burying a loose puck for the 1-0 lead.
Tampa Bay scored twice in the second period to take the lead from the visitors, but the latter tied the game less than two minutes after Nikita Kucherov’s power-play goal made it 2-1.
Brandon Hagel scored the 3-2 goal on the rush, and a late Ottawa goal made Ryan McDonagh's empty-net goal the game-winner.
Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 27 saves for the Lightning, while Ottawa’s Linus Ullmark posted 34 saves.
Tampa Bay is now 28-20-4 this season. The same teams play again on Thursday at AMALIE Arena.
Scoring summary
First period
OTT 1, TBL 0
14:09 Michael Amadio (4) - Ridley Greig, David Perron - PP
Ottawa’s first power play of the night ended with the 1-0 goal. Forward Michael Amadio found a loose puck in the Tampa Bay crease, pushing it through the legs of a reaching Vasilevskiy.
Shots on goal: TBL 14, OTT 8
Second period
TBL 1, OTT 1
1:44 Luke Glendening (3) - Emil Lilleberg, Nick Perbix
The Lightning tied the game less than two minutes into the second period when forward Luke Glendening redirected an Emil Lilleberg point shot into the top corner of the net.
TBL 2, OTT 1
7:38 Nikita Kucherov (25) - Victor Hedman - PP
The Lightning took their first lead of the night on the power play, scoring on Nikita Kucherov’s windup one-timer from the right faceoff circle.
TBL 2, OTT 2
9:30 Claude Giroux (11) - Thomas Chabot, Tim Stutzle
A snap shot by Claude Giroux from the top of the circles tied the game at two goals a side.
Shots on goal: OTT 11, TBL 10
Third period
TBL 3, OTT 2
1:56 Brandon Hagel (23) - Unassisted
Forward Brandon Hagel entered the zone with speed early in the third period and then ripped a shot over the glove of Ullmark from the high slot.
TBL 4, OTT 2
18:25 Ryan McDonagh (2) - Victor Hedman - EN
Ryan McDonagh's empty-net goal made it 4-2.
TBL 4, OTT 3
18:40 Drake Batherson (16) - Jake Sanderson, Chabot
Ottawa cut into the lead late with Drake Batherson's goal.
Total shots: TBL 38, OTT 30