Sabres - The Buffalo News
National Hockey League
Tampa Bay 2, Ottawa 1
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, December 16, 2021
Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida
Referees: Brandon Blandina, Ian Walsh
Linesmen: Devin Berg, Jonathan Deschamps
Attendance: 19092

Victor Hedman scored the tiebreaking goal on the power play - set up by Steven Stamkos' 900th career point - and the Tampa Bay Lightning won 2-1 over the visiting Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.

Hedman, who also had an assist, notched his seventh goal this season to break a second-period 1-1 tie and help the Lightning to their sixth straight win on home ice.

Stamkos, a 14-year veteran, collected the secondary assist for the milestone point.

Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy posted 25 saves to go to 16-4-3 and win for the sixth straight start.

The Russian netminder also set an NHL record by improving to 63-21-4 in the 2021 calendar year, including regular-season and playoff games. The victory pushed him past Marc-Andre Fleury, who produced a 62-30-6 mark in 2009 with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Alex Killorn also scored for Tampa Bay, which is 12-3-2 at home against Ottawa since the 2012-13 season.

Thomas Chabot notched his first goal, and Anton Forsberg made 25 saves for the Senators, who had their two-game winning streak broken and fell to 0-13-0 when trailing after two periods.

In the teams' second meeting this season, in Ottawa on Sunday, the Senators controlled play throughout and won 4-0 behind career-firsts by Brady Tkachuk (hat trick) and Forsberg (shutout).

Both Forsberg and Vasilevskiy entered the game riding five-game winning streaks, and the Ottawa goalie kept it scoreless on the game's initial premier scoring chance - Taylor Raddysh's tip attempt from the low slot at 11:48.

But Chabot made it 1-0 for the visitors at 15:43 when he stole a Lightning pass in the neutral zone, swooped to his right past fellow defenseman Ryan McDonagh and elevated his first goal this season on a forehand flip over Vasilevskiy.

In the second, Tampa Bay turned up the pressure in the first three minutes in a big way, culminating with Ross Colton driving from the right side and sending a slick pass to Killorn, who easily tapped in his ninth marker at 3:47.

Vasilevskiy stuffed Connor Brown on a breakaway just over a minute later, and the Lightning's second power play of the period produced the home side's first lead.

After Tkachuk went off for high-sticking at 14:10, Raddysh and Stamkos set up Hedman, who hesitated then fired home a tally less than a minute later for a 2-1 advantage that stood up.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Ottawa   Tampa Bay
Thomas Chabot 1 Points Victor Hedman 2
Thomas Chabot 1 Goals Victor Hedman 1
Thomas Chabot 0 Assists Victor Hedman 1
N/A Power Play Goals Victor Hedman 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Anton Forsberg .926 Save Percentage Andrei Vasilevskiy .962
Anton Forsberg 25 Saves Andrei Vasilevskiy 25
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Ottawa 26 1 0-2 4-5 10 22
Tampa Bay 27 2 1-5 2-2 4 22
Upcoming Games
  • Tampa Bay will play their next game on the road against Colorado. The Lightning have a W/L % of .632 after a win and .700 after a loss.
  • Ottawa will play their next game on the road against Philadelphia. The Senators have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .333 after a loss.