Fresh off a thrilling goaltending duel against Montreal on Thursday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning visited the Canadian Tire Centre to face the Ottawa Senators. They came to get back to their winning ways, but two quick goals by the Senators early in the first period put that in jeopardy.
For the first eight minutes of the game, Tampa Bay held Ottawa without a shot while firing seven of their own on Senators goaltender Craig Anderson. However, it would only take one for Ottawa to find paydirt, as forward Ryan Dzingel capitalized on a Jake Dotchin turnover and fired a shot past Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy for a 1-0 lead.
The scoring for the Senators did not stop there. It would take just a minute and three seconds for Matt Duchene to stretch the Ottawa lead to two goals. The Lightning looked dumbfounded, but quickly shook it off as there was plenty of hockey to be played. That was until Zack Smith made it a three-goal lead for the Senators off a textbook deflection late in the period.
While they generated several pristine scoring chances towards the end, Tampa Bay still went to the locker room after the first with heads hung low.
The Lightning went out to score three of their own during the second period to make this one exciting. Having been lit up like a Christmas tree in the first, Tampa Bay found a spark that saw them force their way back into this one.
Moments into the second period, Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman cashed in on a timely rebound and silenced the Ottawa faithful with Tampa Bay’s first goal of the game. Within two minutes, they struck again as defenseman Slater Koekkoek cashed in on the second goal of the night.
Having a bit of swagger back, the Lightning found a jump in their step. They trapped the puck in the offensive zone, fired shot after shot towards the Ottawa net, and conjured scoring chances that had Anderson break dancing on the ice. Fourteen minutes into the period, the Lightning would tie the game as Yanni Gourde snagged a Mikhail Sergachev slap shot out of the air and deflected it into Ottawa’s net.
The third period would provide us with the final set of threes as Ottawa tallied up three more goals to eventually win 6-3. The Senators’ Mark Stone scored halfway through the period and from there, it was chaos for Tampa Bay.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Dzingel, with his second of the night, provided the daggers that ended the Lightning’s night with their second consecutive loss. In the blink of an eye, the first period result had reemerged and once again, Tampa Bay found themselves dumbfounded. This sudden scoring surge by Ottawa knocked the Lightning back a step and they seemed to be scrambling.
Once they were able to find their footing, it was too late, as the Senators had taken a grip on the game’s final few minutes. While they did battle until the end, it would not be enough and they left Ottawa’s barn with frustration painted on their face.
Three Stars of The Game
- Ryan Dzingel: Two goals
- Mark Stone: Game-winning goal
- Craig Anderson: Picked up the win and made 45 saves
