Tampa, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Jason Spezza scored the lone goal in the shootout as the Ottawa Senators defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-3, on Monday.
Spezza, Ottawa's second shooter, entered the zone and moved the puck back and forth several times before releasing a wrister that fooled Lightning netminder Ben Bishop and found twine in the top right corner.
"I don't think I am reinventing the wheel. I just slowed down and made a couple of stickhandles and waited for the right time to shoot it," said Spezza on his move in the shootout.
Erik Karlsson, Kyle Turris, and Spezza all scored for Ottawa in regulation, while Robin Lehner made 35 saves and stopped all three shooters in the shootout to snap a six-game skid.
Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman, and Steven Stamkos all tallied goals for the Lightning, who picked up a point in the standings for the ninth straight game, winning five of those games.
Bishop stopped 29-of-32 shots in defeat.
Karlsson started the scoring after he ripped a shot over the shoulder of Bishop to give the Senators a 1-0 lead nearly four minutes into the game. Ottawa's lead lasted less than two minutes as Kucherov's wrist shot from the slot knotted the game at one.
After Karlsson's blast from the point was turned aside, Milan Michalek gathered the puck and dished it into the slot. The puck bounced over to Spezza, who lifted it over a sprawled Bishop and Ottawa regained the lead 8:12 into the middle frame.
The Sens increased their lead 44 seconds later. Mark Stone worked the puck behind the net and sent a pass to Turris, who deked back and forth in front of Bishop and slipped the puck past the Lightning netminder.
The Lightning scored a well-timed power-play goal to get within one after Michalek went off for tripping. Ryan Callahan set a screen in front of Lehner and Hedman's blast from the point made it a 3-2 contest with 6:34 left in the second.
The Lightning tied the game 5:44 into the third. Ondrej Palat's shot rang off the post and Stamkos swatted it out of the air. The referee immediately waved off the goal, but a review deemed that Stamkos' stick was below the cross bar.
"The power play saved us tonight," said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. "Getting that second power play goal was huge."
Karlsson went off for tripping Palat with 3.7 seconds left in regulation to give the Lightning a power play heading into the extra session. The Lightning had several chances, including a few quality shots from Stamkos, but could not convert.
Game Notes
Stamkos played in his 400th NHL game ... Karlsson extended his point streak to seven games and now has goals in four straight against the Lightning ... Valtteri Filppula's career-best point streak reached nine games with an assist on Hedman's goal ... Palat supplied two assists and has 14 points in his last nine games.
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