Senators hand Lightning first loss of season

Drake Batherson scored twice and added an assist as the Ottawa Senators edged the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning 5-4 on Saturday afternoon.

Josh Norris, Brady Tkachuk and Noah Gregor also scored for the Senators, who won for the second time in three outings. Jake Sanderson added three assists and Claude Giroux had a pair of assists.

Goaltender Anton Forsberg made 25 saves.

Nikita Kucherov scored and added an assist, and Nicolas Paul, Jake Guentzel and Mitchell Chaffee had the other Lightning goals. Anthony Cirelli added two assists.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 23 shots for Tampa Bay, which lost for the first time this season in four games.

Gregor gave Ottawa a 5-3 lead at 6:17 of the third, finishing off a 2-on-1 short-handed break with Shane Pinto for his first of the season.

Chaffee pulled the Lightning to within one at 8:11 of the final period, re-directing a Nick Perbix pass past Forsberg for his first of the season.

Trailing 2-0, the Lightning responded in the second period.

Kucherov got Tampa Bay on the board, one-timing a Ryan McDonagh feed past Forsberg glove-side for his NHL-leading seventh goal of the season.

Paul tied it at 10:39, putting home a loose puck past Forsberg for his first of the season.

Batherson gave Ottawa a 3-2 lead, out-waiting Vasilevskiy and tucking a shot past the Tampa Bay goaltender for his second of the game and third of the season.

Tampa Bay tied it again at 18:13 of the second as Guentzel knocked a bouncing puck short-side past Forsberg for his first goal with the Lightning.

The Senators responded 43 seconds later on a power play as Tkachuk poked in the rebound off Sanderson's point shot for his second of the season.

Ottawa outshot Tampa Bay 8-6 in the opening 20 minutes and led 2-0.

The Senators had a two-man advantage for 1:21 early in the first and cashed in.

Batherson opened the scoring at 1:50, one-timing a Giroux pass up and over the shoulder of Vasilevskiy for his second goal of the season.

Norris doubled the lead at 13:21 of the opening period, putting a Giroux feed past Vasilevskiy short-side for his third of the season.

Ottawa No. 1 goaltender Linus Ullmark remained out of the lineup with an injury. Mads Sogaard backed up Forsberg.

--Field Level Media