Kucherov late goal lifts Lightning past Senators for third straight win

TAMPA -- Nikita Kucherov had a goal and two assists to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 4-3 win against the Ottawa Senators at Amalie Arena on Tuesday.

Kucherov gave Tampa Bay a 4-3 lead with 2:30 left in the third period on a one-timer from the right face-off circle off a cross-ice pass from Mikhail Sergachev.
"I knew he was going to get open there," Sergachev said. "His shot was unbelievable. He had such a tight angle, but that's 'Kuch.'"
Sergachev and Brayden Point each had a goal and an assist for the Lightning (6-4-0), who have won three straight. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 12 saves.
Tampa Bay was 1-for-8 on the power play, failing to convert on a major penalty and 5-on-3 advantage in the second period.
"That was a weird one for sure," Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. "It was almost a case that we had too many power plays tonight. When it's not working it can snowball, and we let it snowball. That's on us."

Mathieu Joseph scored a short-handed goal on the 5-on-3 for the Senators (4-5-0), whio have lost three straight. Anton Forsberg made 30 saves.
"We made some really bad plays in the third period that ended up in the back of our net," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. "You've got to learn to close games out or get the point when you have to, and we just didn't get it done. The penalty kill was outstanding, but 5-on-5 we had to keep grinding them down."
Dylan Gambrell gave the Senators a 1-0 lead at 5:44 of the first period. He recovered a loose puck in front of the net after the Lightning failed on multiple clearing attempts.
Sergachev tied it 1-1 at 3:17 of the second with a power-play goal, a one-timer from inside the point off a pass from Stamkos.
"The mental toughness of this team is on another level," Sergachev said. "But we've still got a long way to go. I don't think we're playing that playoff hockey that we're used to."
Joseph put Ottawa back ahead 2-1 at 12:21 after he beat Stamkos to a loose puck at center ice and scored on a breakaway.
"We have to be a little bit more mature," Joseph said. "Being [ahead] 2-1 after two periods, we didn't feel like we played bad, we just couldn't get anything going with all of those penalties."

It was Joseph's first game at Amalie Arena since being traded by the Lightning for Nicholas Paul on March 20. Joseph was part of their teams that won the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021.
"Great memories in this building and in front of these fans that welcomed me," Joseph said. "I came in as a kid at 20-21 years old and I left as a man. I can't thank them enough and Tampa as an organization for what they've done for me."
Alex Killorn tied it 2-2 at 11:04 of the third period with a follow-up shot from the slot that beat Forsberg to the far post.
Claude Giroux put the Senators up 3-2 at 11:44 after Brady Tkachuk stole the puck from Vasilevskiy behind the net and set up Giroux for a shot in the open net.
"It's frustrating … weird game," Ottawa defenseman Travis Hamonic said. "It seemed like the entire game was played on special teams … hoping you could pull one out there at the end, so yeah, it's frustrating."
Point tied it 3-3 at 12:55 after he received a touch pass from Kucherov, skated through the middle of the defense, and beat Forsberg with a backhand.
"There's ways to win in this league, it's hard," Smith said. That's a team that's come back in series and won Stanley Cups, you have to make it hard for them and in the last five minutes we didn't make it hard."

Paul appeared to score an empty-net goal against his former team, but a video review initiated by the NHL Situation Room determined the play was offside.
Tkachuk had a breakaway in the final seconds, but his shot went high as time expired.
"I told the guys it's going to take me a full day to digest this, so you can take the day off," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "I don't know. The guys … they stuck with it. You just have to stick to your plan. It's hard to do. Maybe earlier in the season we strayed away from it at times; tonight we didn't, and they got rewarded for it. What a wild ending."
NOTES: Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman was scratched with an upper-body injury. He is day to day. ... Kucherov has a four-game goal streak and an eight-game point streak (four goals, 10 assists). ... Stamkos had two assists and eight shots on goal. ... Senators forward Drake Batherson had his six-game point streak end.