Lightning blown out after Senators score 5 goals in 3rd period

Eduardo A. Encina, Tampa Bay Times on Apr 7, 2026

Published in Hockey

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The group the Lightning took to Ottawa Tuesday certainly wasn’t whole. They even needed to summon a trio of reinforcements from AHL Syracuse to play against the Senators.

The Lightning were without several key forwards: Brandon Hagel missed his fourth straight game, Anthony Cirelli his second and Pontus Holmberg was ruled out indefinitely after ramming his left shoulder into an unlatched penalty-box door Monday in Buffalo.

The Crunch’s top three scorers— Jakob Pelletier, Conor Geekie and Dylan Duke — were called up Tuesday morning and made the three-hour drive to Ottawa to form Tampa Bay’s fourth line.

But against a Senators team fighting for its playoff life, the Lightning lacked the urgency they needed, falling 6-2 at Canadian Tire Centre.

The score was tied 1-1 before the Senators scored five goals in the third period, handing the Lightning a road loss for a second consecutive night.

With the Sabres idle, the Lightning lost an opportunity to take sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division. Instead, Montreal tied Tampa Bay and Buffalo with 102 points and a .654 points percentage, though the Canadiens have fewer regulation wins than both.

The Senators, a potential Lightning playoff opponent, ended the night with a two-point lead over the Blue Jackets for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Tampa Bay is just 2-7-0 over its past nine games in Ottawa.

After losing in Buffalo with starter Andrei Vasilevskiy in net, the Lightning fared no better with backup Jonas Johansson in the crease against Ottawa. They will wrap up the four-game trip with games Thursday in Montreal and Saturday in Boston.

With Tuesday’s game tied at 1, Ottawa’s Fabian Zetterlund scored from the top of the left circle 2:45 into the third. Brady Tkachuk took the puck toward the net, pulling four Lightning skaters below the dots and giving the trailing Zetterlund an open look.

Less than two minutes later, the Sentators’ Jake Sanderson drove to the front of the net from the right wing, turned the corner on Lightning defenseman JJ Moser and beat Johansson to make it 3-1.

Tampa Bay’s Corey Perry cut the Ottawa lead to one with 9:25 left, but Tim Stutzle got the goal back with a power-play goal less than three minutes later. Stutzle drove to the net and pushed in a loose puck after Yanni Gourde was penalized for holding the stick.

The Lightning’s challenge for goaltender interference was unsuccessful, putting them back on the penalty kill. Sanderson scored 13 seconds into the power play, catching Tampa Bay flat-footed. Shane Pinto’s empty-netter with just over three minutes remaining made it 6-2.