Tampa, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Nikita Kucherov had the only goal of the shootout as the Tampa Bay Lightning took a 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.
Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and B.J. Crombeen all scored in regulation for the Lightning, who snapped a five-game home losing streak. Ben Bishop gave up three goals on 36 shots and Victor Hedman posted three assists in the win.
"It feels great to get the win," said Hedman. "To get our first win at home in 2014 was huge and we need to keep that going. There are a lot of big division games coming up, so we need to keep pushing forward."
Clarke MacArthur and Erik Karlsson both posted a goal and an assist with Chris Neil scoring the other goal for the Senators, who have lost three of their last four. Craig Anderson made 35 stops.
"We competed all night and I think we did the things we needed to do to be in this game," said Anderson. "We got a point, so there is that."
Kucherov scored on the first attempt for Tampa Bay, as he quickly moved to the forehand and snapped a shot into the left corner. Bishop then made stops on Mika Zibanejad, Jason Spezza and Kyle Turris for the win.
Tampa Bay got on the board at 14:32 while shorthanded, as an Ottawa defender couldn't keep the puck in the Senators' end and Johnson picked it up. Flying down the right wing, he snuck the puck in underneath the crossbar for his 13th of the year.
Ottawa, though, scored 40 seconds later on the same power play as a slap shot from the left point by MacArthur was stopped, but the rebound came to the right side and Karlsson buried it.
The Lightning took the lead back at 3:30 of the second period when a slap shot from the right point by Hedman was tipped in by Crombeen, but the Sens answered on the power play at 16:57 of the frame, as MacArthur was all alone at the right side for an easy goal.
Tampa Bay made it a 3-2 game 5:31 into the third, as Martin St. Louis sent a sharp pass from the left circle to the low right side and Palat got a stick on it for the redirect. However, the Sens tied the game again with 2:18 to play when Neil whacked in a loose puck from the right circle.
Game Notes
Tampa Bay hosts Colorado on Saturday ... Ottawa plays in Carolina on Saturday ... Tampa has won three of its last four games against Ottawa, including a 3-1 decision in Tampa on Dec. 5 ... Ottawa was 2-for-3 on the power play, while Tampa went 0-for-2 ... Spezza had two assists.
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