Drake Batherson had two goals and an assist as the Senators defeated Tampa Bay 5-4.
For Ottawa Senator fans so far, afternoon games have been must-see hockey.
On Monday afternoon, the Senators won an 8-7 overtime classic over the Los Angeles Kings. Five days later, it was more matinee madness as the Senators beat the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, 5-4.
Drake Batherson led the way for Ottawa with two goals and an assist. Claude Giroux and Jake Sanderson each set up two goals apiece. The Lightning outshot Ottawa 29-28 on the day.
Noah Gregor's slick shorthanded goal on a two-on-one with Shane Pinto proved to be the difference in the game.
"Yeah, it felt great," Gregor told TSN 1200 radio after the game. "You know, I thought the penalty kill was good all night tonight. And then especially towards the end there when we had to kill one off. There were some huge blocks, and then me and (Shane Pinto) were able to get a good rush, and I got an opportunity. It's always nice to see it go in."
Josh Norris and Brady Tkachuk scored the other Ottawa goals.
The Senators got some good fortune right out of the gate, getting a 5-on-3 just over a minute into the game. Tampa Bay centre Anthony Cirelli took a tripping penalty 30 seconds in, followed by Janis Moser's puck-over-glass penalty 39 seconds later.
After 40 seconds of pointless passing around the perimeter, Claude Giroux finally fed it to Drake Batherson, who wired home a one-timer to give Ottawa the 1-0 lead.
Midway through the first, at even strength, Giroux provided service again. He grabbed a pass from Batherson at the blue line, and as he headed for the near post, he saw Josh Norris arriving late. Giroux threaded the puck through Nikita Kucherov's skates right to Norris, who beat Andrei Vasilevskiy low to the glove side.
The two clubs erupted for a five-goal second period.
Tampa Bay responded early after a slap shot from the point hit Shane Pinto on the skate. Pinto briefly went down, and that gave Nikita Kucherov the room he needed to set up shop in his office on the right side. His one-timer cut the Sens' lead to 2-1.
Midway through the second, former Senator Nick Paul tied it at 2, cashing in on a rebound after a very soft defensive effort by Ottawa. But Batherson responded less than three minutes later, intercepting a clearing attempt, outwaiting Vasilevskiy and tucking the puck in from a bad angle.
In the final couple of minutes of the frame, Tampa tied it again. Jacob Bernard-Docker made an ugly five-foot outlet pass to Zack MacEwen. Victor Hedman was right on top of MacEwen who was tripped up by Hedman's skate. The puck ended up back out in front, where Jake Guenztel swatted in his first of the year.
But Brady Tkachuk restored the lead on the power play at 18:56, cramming home a rebound with the puck barely crossing the line.
Less than five minutes into the third, the Senators had to fight off their own 5-on-3. Not only did they kill it off, but Shane Pinto and Noah Gregor teamed up on a shorthanded goal to give the Sens a 5-3 lead and a little breathing room.
The breathing room was quickly extinguished again by soft defence. Mitchell Chaffee cruised to the slot with Michael Amadio and Tim Stutzle in a good position to defend. Neither took his stick away, and Chaffee redirected a centring pass past Anton Forsberg, who came off his post at the wrong time.
But Forsberg made up for that with a couple of big saves in the dying moments, including one on another Kucherov one-timer in the final minute.
The Sens improved to 3-2 in the young season, while the Lightning fell to 3-1. Ottawa begins a three-game road trip on Tuesday, making its first visit to Salt Lake City.