Friday, 4 a.m.
This time, they couldn’t win the third period. This time, they couldn’t count on the power play. This time, they couldn’t depend on Andrei Vasilevskiy to make the impossible save to bail them out.
This time, the Lightning lost in a shootout.
The Bolts, who had been on a hot streak, dropped a 3-2 shootout to the Ottawa Senators Thursday night. Brady Tkachuk scored the winning goal after earlier scoring another and adding an assist in regulation.
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The Bolts had taken a 2-1 lead in the second period on goals by Conor Sheary (his fourth) and Brayden Point (his 45th). Nikita Kucherov ran his season assists total to 98 (and 140 points) with two.
The Bolts started third-teamer Matt Tomkins for just the fifth time this season. He stopped 25 of 27, but lost his third game.
Tampa Bay will travel to Washington for a Saturday game (4:30 p.m.).
