Ottawa Senators goaltender Mike Condon makes a save against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period at Amalie Arena, in Tampa, Fla., on March 13, 2018.Kim Klement
Mike Hoffman scored two goals and six other Ottawa players had multipoint games as the Senators beat Tampa Bay 7-4 on Tuesday night, ending the Lightning's 10-game streak without a regulation loss.
One night earlier, the struggling Senators halted Florida's eight-game home winning streak.
Tom Pyatt, Erik Karlsson, Ryan Dzingel and Marian Gaborik each had a goal and an assist for the Senators. Magnus Paajarvi also scored, and Mike Condon finished with 42 saves Tampa Bay, sitting atop the NHL standings with 100 points, hadn't lost in regulation since Feb. 17. But the Lightning's lead over Boston in the Atlantic Division was trimmed to four points after the Bruins rallied past Carolina.
The defeat also spoiled the first career hat trick for J.T. Miller, who has five goals in seven games for Tampa Bay since being acquired from the New York Rangers at the Feb. 26 trade deadline. Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos each had three assists.
Miller opened the scoring 4:19 into the game, but Ottawa roared back with three goals to close the period as Paajarvi scored his seventh of the season, Dzingel notched his 20th while on the power play and Pyatt tipped in Cody Ceci's shot at 11:24.
Miller scored his second of the game on the power play 2:03 into the second period to cut the margin to 3-2, but the Senators answered that with goals by Hoffman – who also got his 20th of the season – and Gaborik to grab a 5-3 lead at 13:44.
After Miller completed his hat trick, tipping in Stamkos' pass through the crease at 16:26 for his second power-play goal of the night, Ottawa once again quickly answered when Karlsson's cross-ice pass attempt hit the skate of Chris Kunitz and was redirected into the net at 18:30.
Hoffman and Lightning defenceman Ryan McDonagh, also obtained from the Rangers on Feb. 26, scored in the third.
NOTES: Tampa Bay activated G Peter Budaj off injured reserve. Budaj saw his first action since Dec. 27, entering in relief of Andrei Vasilevskiy for the third period. ... Lightning G Louis Domingue was reassigned to the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League. ... Ottawa RW Alex Burrows appeared in his 900th NHL game. ... Tampa Bay D Victor Hedman got his 100th career power-play point. ... Kucherov became the fifth player in franchise history to reach 90 points in a season, joining Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Stamkos and Brad Richards.
UP NEXT
Lightning: Host the Boston Bruins on Saturday.
Senators: Host the Dallas Stars on Friday.
Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews says recovering from his Feb. 22 shoulder injury is a gradual process. Matthews took part in his second straight full practice Tuesday, but continued to wear a red non-contact jersey.
The Canadian Press