Tampa Bay Lightning centre Anthony Cirelli (71) falls to the ice after making a hit on Ottawa Senators defenceman Thomas Chabot (72) during first period NHL hockey action in Ottawa, on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Unlike previous years, the Ottawa Senators appear more confident in their ability to hold their ground rather than falter under pressure.
New head coach Travis Green has helped guide the team to a solid 3-2-0 start this season, with the latest victory a nervy 5-4 decision over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon.
Drake Batherson, who scored twice and added an assist for Ottawa, said the squad is focused.
“I think just staying composed on the bench,” he said. “Maybe in years past we’d get a little fired up and now we’re a few years older with everyone. (The) new coaching staff does a great job of (helping with) that.
“We just (kept) going at them and (the) bounces went our way tonight.”
Batherson, with a power-play goal, and Josh Norris helped the Senators jump out to an early 2-0 lead at Canadian Tire Centre.
Nikita Kucherov and Nick Paul helped the Lightning pull even in a second period that featured five goals. Batherson and Tampa Bay’s Jake Guentzel also scored before Brady Tkachuk’s power-play marker allowed Ottawa to take a 4-3 lead into the break.
Noah Gregor’s short-handed goal at 6:17 of the third period proved to be the winner. Mitchell Chaffee made it a one-goal game and the Senators held off some late pressure from the Lightning for the win.
Tampa Bay (3-1-0) was 0-for-3 with the man advantage.
“We put ourselves in tough spots, especially taking some of those penalties and we couldn’t kill them off,” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. “So, what’d they score, five? Two power-play (goals) and one shorty. So, you can sway the 5-on-5 game our way, but the special-teams war was what that difference was.”
Anton Forsberg made 25 saves for the Senators, including a big stop on Kucherov with 56.4 seconds remaining.
“It (came) down to special teams tonight,” said Tampa’s Ryan McDonagh. “We’ve been pretty solid the first few games in that aspect and tonight it was just the opposite for whatever reason. Poor execution.”
Ottawa goaltender Linus Ullmark missed his third consecutive game due to a strain. There is no firm timeline on his return.
The Senators may need to call on Forsberg to carry the load while the regular starter is out.
“It’s one thing to be the backup goalie, it’s another thing to know you’ve got the net for a little bit,” Green said. “That’s a different scenario in your head and I was happy for him tonight.
“He held down the fort when we needed him.”
Andrei Vasilevsky stopped 23 shots for Tampa Bay.
The Senators will head out on the road for a three-game swing that includes visits to Utah, Vegas and Colorado.
Green is looking forward to his team having some time to bond away from home.
“I think it’s a good time,” he said. “We’ve been at home for a while now. We had the one trip to Montreal, that was a short one. Sso it’s a good time to get out on the road (and) start to develop our road game as well.”