TAMPA, Fla. — The Lightning talked about their showing in Saturday’s Stadium Series game being a momentum-builder as they enter a difficult final stretch of the regular season.
The game in front of nearly 69,000 fans had a playoff feel, and the Lightning’s top players stepped up in a national spotlight.
Returning home to Amalie Arena might have felt like a bit of a letdown after all the excitement in Nashville. But starting a stretch of 31 games in 60 days to finish out the season, the Lightning had no time to dwell on the past.
And the Senators gave them an early wake-up call Tuesday night.
The Lightning found themselves down two goals just 3:43 into the game, quieting the home crowd, but they rallied with five straight goals in a 5-2 win.
Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos — the three scorers in the Lightning’s 3-2 win over Nashville under the Nissan Stadium lights — scored again against Ottawa, sparking the comeback.
Kucherov took a Brayden Point pass from near the boards and charged the net from the left circle, faking a forehand wrister before poking a backhand inside the far post to beat goaltender Matt Murray.
Defenseman Jan Rutta sprung Ondrej Palat with a chip pass that Palat took through the neutral zone and made a drop pass to Point streaking through the left circle. Point’s wrister beat Murray high to send the game into the first intermission tied at 2.
A second-period scrum — and the ensuing power play — seemed to energize the Lightning. After Tampa Bay defenseman Erik Cernak and Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk exchanged checks, Senators defenseman Josh Brown went after Cernak. But Pat Maroon jumped in to take on Brown, dropping his gloves for a fight as his linemates, Corey Perry and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, also found dancing partners.
When the dust cleared, Stamkos scored the go-ahead goal on a fabulous feed from Kucherov for the Lightning’s fourth power-play goal in the past three games.
Point rimmed the puck along the end boards to Kucherov along the far side. Kucherov sent a backhand pass through traffic to Stamkos for a one-timer from the left circle 5:18 into the second period.
The Lightning turned the tables on the Senators with relentless puck pursuit and possession. Tampa Bay kept the game in Ottawa’s zone, utilizing its forecheck.
Perry was in the right place for a put-back on a puck that bounced off the end-boards to give the Lightning a two-goal lead with less than four minutes remaining in the second period, and Mikhail Sergachev’s rocket from the high slot put the Lightning up 5-2 just over nine minutes into the third.
