Johnson late goal helps Lightning defeat Senators for sixth straight win

OTTAWA-- Tyler Johnson broke a tie with 1:30 remaining in the third period and the Tampa Bay Lightning won their sixth straight game, 5-3 against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.

"He's been doing that for us for a long time," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said of Johnson. "He's] a team player and one of those kids that says, 'Coach, put me in, tell me where I need to go and I'll work for it.' It was great to see him get that goal. He's scored some big goals for us in his career here and that was just another one."
Johnson redirected a centering pass from Victor Hedman.
[WATCH: [All Lightning at Senators highlights]
"He's one of those guys that when he has his head up in the offensive zone, he just creates all these different shot lanes and different opportunities," Johnson said of Hedman. "You really are just trying to find some space, trying to find an open lane for your stick, because he's going to find you."
The Senators had a goal disallowed with 1:09 left when Colin White directed the puck into the net with his head. The call was upheld after video review.

"It was just an in-the-moment kind of thing," White said. "I thought if it hit the ground and made a weird bounce, I don't know if I would've been able to put it in. The defender was right there and at the moment I didn't really know the rule, so I thought I'd just try that instead."
Curtis McElhinney made 25 saves for the Lightning (23-13-4), who are 9-2-1 in their past 12 games.
"We gave up some really good chances that [McElhinney] made some good saves on and held us in, and that was super important," Tampa Bay forward Brayden Point said. "And then in the third, we took a breath and came out with a better mindset."
Craig Anderson made 23 saves for the Senators (16-21-5), who are 0-3-1 in their past four games.

"I thought we played really well," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. "I thought we probably outchanced them tonight, thought we skated, thought probably the best we've skated in a couple weeks. We were on pucks, we had some chances, and they just found a way to win."
Chris Tierney scored shorthanded when his pass attempt on a 2-on-1 deflected off Hedman's skate, giving the Senators a 1-0 lead 46 seconds into the second period.
Carter Verhaeghe took a cross-ice pass from Hedman and scored into an open net to tie it 1-1 at 2:40. Kevin Shattenkirk scored with a wrist shot into the top right corner 1:05 later to give the Lightning a 2-1 lead.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau one-timed a pass from Drake Batherson on the power play to tie it 2-2 at 11:40. Pageau tied his NHL career high with his 19th goal of the season.
Mark Borowiecki scored with a slap shot from the point to make it 3-2 with nine seconds remaining in the period.
"We knew we hadn't played, really, our best game yet," Shattenkirk said. "Obviously, going down by a goal, we knew that if we just got back to our principles we would get our chances. We were patient with it, we weren't trying to win the game in the first five minutes; we were just trying to set the tone early coming out in the third and getting back to what we do well."
Point's wrist shot tied it 3-3 at 8:37 of the third period. Alex Killorn scored into an empty net at 19:53 for the 5-3 final.

"We played hard," Borowiecki said. "[Against] a team like that has that much firepower up front and on the backend too, when they start coming in waves in that third period and pushing, it's tough. They've just got so many weapons you've got to try and weather the storm."

They said it

"I just saw [Andrew] Shaw do it however many years ago when he was playing with [the Chicago Blackhawks], that's the only reason why I knew it wasn't a goal, it's just because of that. You obviously don't see it too often. I don't know, but I think that's a pretty nice goal, personally." -- Lightning forward Tyler Johnson on Colin White's disallowed goal for using his head
"I think he's skating a lot better than he did at the start of the year. He was good defensively. You can see on the power play, he made some plays, probably the most plays anyone on the flank has made all year. I was really impressed with his game tonight." -- Senators coach D.J. Smith said of Drake Batherson

Need to know

Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh did not play the final two periods because of an undisclosed injury. Cooper said McDonagh is doubtful to play Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes. ... Pageau scored 19 goals for Ottawa in 2015-16 (82 games). ... Batherson's assist on Pageau's goal was his first point of the season. It was his third game, first since Oct. 5. ... Senators forward Anthony Duclair was scratched. He was injured blocking a shot in a 6-3 loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday.

What's next

Lightning: At the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday (5 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-CR, SUN, NHL.TV)
Senators: At the Washington Capitals on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSWA, RDS2, TSN5, NHL.TV)