The Tampa Bay Lightning ended a five-game homestand with a 5-1 Atlantic Division win over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.
A power-play goal gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes of hockey. Ottawa made it 1-1 early in the second period, but a Brandon Hagel goal regained the lead midway through the frame.
Hagel accepted a three-line pass from defenseman Ryan McDonagh at the offensive blueline and buried the puck on a breakaway for the 2-1 lead. Brayden Point added to the scoring late in the game, as a third period rush for the Lightning offense solidified the 5-1 win.
Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 27 saves to help Tampa Bay improve to 29-20-4 this season. They begin a weekend back-to-back in Detroit on Saturday.
Scoring summary
First period
TBL 1, OTT 0
9:23 Jake Guentzel (27) - Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov - PP
Forward Jake Guentzel buried a loose puck near the net after a Brayden Point shot on the power play to open the scoring.
Shots on goal: TBL 11, OTT 7
Second period
TBL 1, OTT 1
5:27 Michael Amadio (5) - Tim Stutzle, Thomas Chabot
A redirection in front of the Lightning net tied the game 1-1 in the early part of period two.
TBL 2, OTT 1
10:14 Brandon Hagel (24) - Ryan McDonagh, Andrei Vasilevskiy
Tampa Bay regained the lead off the blade of forward Brandon Hagel, who raced in alone on Ottawa goalie Anton Forsberg before scoring a five-hole goal.
Shots on goal: OTT 12, TBL 10
Third period
TBL 3, OTT 1
15:44 Point (29) - Kucherov, Gage Goncalves
A shot by Brayden Point from the right faceoff circle extended the home team's lead late.
TBL 4, OTT 1
19:08 Erik Cernak (1) - Unassisted - EN
An empty-net goal from defenseman Erik Cernak made it 4-1 after he cleared the puck from the defensive zone.
TBL 5, OTT 1
19:34 Mitchell Chaffee (10) - Darren Raddysh, Emil Lilleberg
Another late goal came from forward Mitchell Chaffee in the game's final minute.
Total shots: TBL 31, OTT 28
