Ottawa Senators right wing Drake Batherson (19) celebrates his goal...

Ottawa Senators right wing Drake Batherson (19) celebrates his goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during second period NHL hockey action in Ottawa, on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. Credit: AP/Justin Tang

OTTAWA, Ontario — Drake Batherson had two goals and an assist, and the Ottawa Senators handed Tampa Bay its first loss of the season with a 5-4 victory over the Lightning on Saturday.

Josh Norris, Brady Tkachuk and Noah Gregor also scored for Ottawa (3-2-0), and Anton Forsberg made 25 saves. Jake Sanderson collected three assists.

Gregor’s short-handed goal lifted the Senators to a 5-3 lead 6:17 into the third period. It was his first goal of the season.

Nikita Kucherov scored his NHL-best seventh goal for Tampa Bay. Nick Paul, Jake Guentzel and Mitchell Chaffee also scored for the Lightning (3-1-0).

Forsberg made a big save on Kucherov with 56.4 seconds remaining.

Andrei Vasilevsky stopped 23 shots for Tampa Bay.

TAKEAWAYS

Ottawa Senators right wing Drake Batherson (19) celebrates a goal...

Ottawa Senators right wing Drake Batherson (19) celebrates a goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Ottawa, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. Credit: AP/Justin Tang

Senators: G Linus Ullmark missed his third straight game with what has been described as a strain. Ullmark practiced this week but didn’t dress as the backup.

Lightning: Went 0 for 3 on the man advantage after scoring on the power play in their first three games.

KEY MOMENT

Clinging to a 4-3 lead, the Senators killed a 48-second, two-man advantage early in the third period.

Ottawa Senators right wing Drake Batherson (19) watches his shot...

Ottawa Senators right wing Drake Batherson (19) watches his shot go in the net behind Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Ottawa, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. Credit: AP

KEY STAT

With seven goals and two assists over four games, Kucherov is off to the most productive start of his career.

UP NEXT

The Lightning visit the Maple Leafs on Monday. The Senators are at Utah on Tuesday.

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