The Ottawa Senators opened the 2025–26 season on Thursday night with an impressive 5-4 comeback victory on the road against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Senators rallied from deficits of 2-0 and 3-1, with Shane Pinto leading the charge. Pinto scored the equalizer in the second, the go-ahead goal in the third, and then his hard work along the boards set up a Claude Giroux empty-netter, which turned out to be the game-winner.

It was a fiery start to the season, as the teams combined for 36 penalty minutes and two fights in a chippy first period. Just over two minutes into the game, the heavyweights got involved in an old-school, staged fight. The teams’ new enforcers, Kurtis MacDermid and the towering 6-foot-9 Curtis Douglas. That scrap set the tone for what turned into a heated first period.

After a holding call on Dylan Cozens, Tampa Bay opened the scoring at the 5:35 mark with a power-play goal from Oliver Bjorkstrand. 85 seconds later, Brayden Point used Nikolas Matinpalo as a screen and snapped one past Linus Ullmark to make it 2–0.

Midway through the second, Ottawa got a power play of their own and capitalized. Cozens redeemed himself with a one-timer from the top of the circle that beat Andrei Vasilevskiy to cut the lead to 2–1.

However, another costly holding penalty—this time to David Perron—put the Senators back on the kill. Nikita Kucherov made them pay, dancing into the high slot and ripping a wrist shot past Ullmark to restore Tampa’s two-goal lead.

Early in the second, Artem Zub cut the lead again with a soft wrist shot from the blue line that fooled Vasilevskiy, going off the post, then off the back of the goalie and in. Fabian Zetterlund didn’t get a point on the play but provided a perfect screen in front.

Zub continued to show some offensive mojo with several more shots in the second period. He also set up Ottawa’s third goal with a long stretch pass to Shane Pinto, who broke in and beat Vasilevskiy five-hole to tie the game at 3.

The third was more of a chess match as the teams, at times, almost seemed content to ride the game in overtime. But Jake Sanderson had other ideas. He sprinted up the left wing, then cut hard and aggressively to the net. The rebound spilled out to Pinto who smacked in the rebound with 1:47 to go.

After Giroux's empty netter, the Lighting drew to within one on Kucherov's second goal with 14 seconds to play but Ottawa hung on to close it out for their first victory of the new season.

Pinto, Zub, and Brady Tkachuk each enjoyed three point nights. Sanderson had two assists and led all Senators in ice time (23:10) and a team-best plus 3. For those pining for more 5-on-5 goals, the Sens accommodated with 4. The Sens outshot the Lightning 34-25.

"Yeah, really great road game," Green told the media. "You know, the last two periods we checked well, created a lot of chances. Great way to start the year.

The Senators' next game is on Saturday night when they visit the Florida Panthers, the two-time Stanley Cup champions.

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