OTTAWA — Jason Spezza scored a
power-play goal 4:17 into overtime to give the Ottawa Senators a 3-2
victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.
Spezza, sidelined the previous two
games because of back pain, drove a slap shot past Antero Niittymaki
after Tampa Bay's Mattias Ohlund was sent off for holding 3 minutes
into overtime. Spezza also assisted on Daniel Alfredsson's first-period
goal.
Mike Fisher also scored for Ottawa
(7-4-2) and Pascal Leclaire made 18 saves in the third meeting between
the two teams this season, the second in seven days.
Alex Tanguay and Steven Stamkos
scored power-play goals for Tampa Bay (5-4-5). The Lightning are 1-1-1
on a four-game trip that included a 2-1 overtime win in Toronto on
Tuesday night. Stamkos has 12 goals this season.
Niittymaki stopped 26 shots in his second start in a row.
Stamkos drew the Lightning even at 2
when he drove a slap shot past Leclaire 13:40 into the second
for Tampa Bay's second power-play goal of the game.
Referee Kerry Fraser waved off a pair
of Ottawa goals with under 5 minutes remaining in the third, including
Chris Kelly's high-stick tip with 26.8 seconds left.
A brief video review confirmed Fraser's call.
The official drew the ire of the
Scotiabank Place crowd moments earlier when he waved off another
apparent go-ahead goal by the Senators with 4:09 remaining.
Fraser ruled that the Lightning
gained possession while a delayed penalty was signaled against Tampa
Bay's Andrej Meszaros before Alexandre Picard put a backhand past Niittymaki.
Tanguay gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead 3:03 in with his second of the season.
Alfredsson drew Ottawa even just under 2 minutes later with his sixth goal.
Fisher scored on a power play 12 minutes into the second to give the Senators a brief 2-1 lead.
Notes
With thousands of Canadian
military personnel on hand for Armed Forces Appreciation Night, a
moment of silence was observed prior to the game in memory of the
victims of the shooting spree at Fort Hood. … Tanguay has two goals
and four assists in his last seven games. He had one point in his first
seven games, an assist in the Lightning's 6-3 season-opening loss in
Atlanta on Oct. 3. … Tampa Bay beat Ottawa 5-2 at home one week
earlier. Senators LW Milan Michalek had a hat trick in a 7-1 win over
the Lightning on Oct. 15.