TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Defenseman Emil Lilleberg scored the go-ahead goal and had a career-high three points, and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied to defeat the Ottawa Senators 4-2 on Saturday.
Brandon Hagel and Charle-Edouard D’Astous each had a goal and an assist, while Jake Guentzel scored for a third consecutive game. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves for Tampa Bay, which played without leading scorer Nikita Kucherov and others.
Nick Paul and Kucherov, who entered the weekend tied with Connor McDavid for the most points in the NHL, were both out because of illness. Despite not having them and captain Victor Hedman, who is on a leave of absence for personal reasons, the Lightning improved to 5-0-2 in the past seven games.
Dylan Cozens and Jordan Spence scored for Ottawa, and James Reimer allowed four goals on 27 shots. The Senators, in the middle of a fierce playoff race in the Eastern Conference, lost in regulation for the first time since March 18 and are on the outside looking in with nine games remaining.
With the score tied at 2, Lilleberg took a pass from Hagel and chipped a backhand shot past Reimer with a little more than 11 minutes left in regulation. Guentzel scored on a breakaway later to provide some breathing room.
Ottawa had taken a 2-0 lead on goals by Cozens and Spence. This was the fourth game in a row the Lightning fell behind by multiple goals, and just like in the previous three, they got back into it in the second period.
Senators: Visit the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.
Lightning: Host the Nashville Predators on Sunday.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Planning your dream wedding? Discover everything you need at the Wedding Fair in the Park – … Read moreWedding Fair in the Park
“Side-splittingly funny and brilliantly chaotic” Read moreThe Play That Goes Wrong
LaurieHietter said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.