Ottawa, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - Patrick Wiercioch scored with 16.9 seconds left in overtime to lift the Ottawa Senators over the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1, on Thursday.
Wiercioch's slap shot from the top of the right circle got past Ben Bishop, giving Ottawa a much-needed victory.
Mark Stone had one goal and one assist for the Senators, who remain three points behind the Bruins for the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Boston beat Detroit on Thursday.
Andrew Hammond made 28 saves to improve to 16-1-1 as an NHL starter.
"They're the top team offensively in the league. You know that they are going to get their chances. For the most part I thought we did a good job of limiting them," Hammond said.
Jonathan Drouin scored the lone goal for the Lightning, who have already clinched a playoff berth and still have a chance to win the Atlantic Division title. Bishop stopped 32-of-34 shots.
"I thought (Hammond) played well," Bishop said. "We couldn't get that one tonight. I thought he played well, (but) I don't think we tested him too much."
The Lightning played the game without four of their top six defensemen; Victor Hedman, Braydon Coburn, Jason Garrison and Andrej Sustr are injured. Forward Tyler Johnson also sat out with an upper-body injury.
Stone gave the Senators a 1-0 lead at 5:03 of the first when he put home a rebound.
Tampa Bay tied things up on the power play at 16:53 when Drouin scored from the right circle.
Game Notes
Tampa Bay went 1-for-4 on the power play, while Ottawa went 0-for-5 ... The Senators host the Capitals on Saturday, while the Lightning play at Florida on Saturday.
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