Senators score 7, defeat Lightning to end skid at 4

Egor Sokolov
scored his first NHL goal, and the Ottawa Senators ended a four-game skid with a 7-4 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Saturday.

Alex DeBrincat and Mark Kastelic each had a goal and an assist, and Cam Talbot made 20 saves for the Senators (38-35-7), who were 0-2-2 in their previous four games.
"Give credit to the leaders and older guys to have the team ready," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. "Obviously disappointing not making the playoffs, but they're going to work right until the end."

Victor Hedman had a goal and two assists, Steven Stamkos had a goal and two assists, and Brian Elliott made 33 saves for the Lightning (45-29-6), who will finish third in the Atlantic Division and play the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"Extremely disappointing road trip (0-3-0)," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "We're playing like the season ended when we clinched the playoff spot. I'm surprised. I've been with this group a long time, and I'm surprised that this is how it's happening."
DeBrincat gave Ottawa a 4-3 lead at 19:43 of the second period with a power-play goal from the low slot.
Sokolov, playing his 11th NHL game, pushed it to 5-3 at 2:07 of the third period on a breakaway off a turnover by Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak.
"I still can't believe it, it doesn't feel real to me," Sokolov said. "I've got like a hundred messages on my phone. I kind of teared up a little bit, I'll be honest with you."

Brayden Point brought Tampa Bay within 5-4 at 6:01 when he scored from close range off a backdoor pass by Hedman.
"The past three games we're back to getting scored on a lot," Lightning forward Michael Eyssimont said. "Our [defensemen] are working hard on the back and we're not helping them a whole lot. That's the forwards' fault."
Kastelic extended the lead to 6-4 at 10:49 when he beat Elliott on the glove side with a wrist shot before Claude Giroux scored an empty-net goal at 19:41 for the 7-4 final.
"We obviously want to finish the season on a high note," Talbot said. "No better way than beating a team of that caliber, so it was good to get a big win tonight."
Drake Batherson gave the Senators a 1-0 lead 30 seconds into the first period when he redirected a shot from Erik Brannstrom.
Stamkos tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 2:51.
Julien Gauthier gave Ottawa a 2-1 lead on a wrist shot from the edge of the left face-off circle at 10:57.
"It's fun to contribute, and I think my line had a great game and it was an overall great effort from the boys," Gauthier said. "It's never fun when you don't play for something, but we are playing the full 82 games and we have two more. We have to have the same work ethic and get it done."

Patrick Brown made it 3-1 at 6:21 of the second period when he controlled a rebound off a shot from Kastelic and chipped it over Elliott.
Brandon Hagel cut it to 3-2 at 13:38 with a 5-on-3 goal when he stuffed in a rebound off a shot from Stamkos.
Hedman tied it 3-3 at 14:06 with a one-timer from the top of the right circle on a power play.
"Turnovers, we're giving up so many chances again, it's tough to win like that," Hagel said. "Sometimes you just have to simplify. We're not playing smart hockey and it costs us. Obviously it was a tough trip, so it will be good to go back home and hopefully give a better effort."
NOTES: Brady Tkachuk (assist) got his 80th point to join
Tim Stutzle
(86). Ottawa hasn't had multiple players with 80 points since 2007-08 (Jason Spezza, Dany Heatley, Daniel Alfredsson). … Along with his goal, Gauthier had a team-high four hits in 8:08 after missing six games with an illness. … DeBrincat has four goals in the past seven games. … Elliott has given up six goals in each of his past three starts. … Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov had three assists and has 81 this season, his second time reaching 80 (87, 2018-19). … Hedman played his 973rd game to pass Martin St. Louis for third in Lightning history behind Vincent Lecavalier (1,037) and Stamkos (1,001).