In Ottawa Sunday, the Senators were coming off a shelling at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres Saturday and appeared to have rebounded against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
But Brayden Point tied the game 3-3 with 27 seconds left in regulation on the power play to force extra time.
In the overtime, Yanni Gourde struck for the winner with just 14 seconds gone to give the Bolts a 4-3 win.
“It went from game over to three of their guys going the other way,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. “That was a pretty amazing play under the situation. Obviously, it goes to [Johnson] and he makes a great play to [Point]. Game saver for us.”
Louis Dominguemade 22 saves to pick up the win.
The Senators had 2-0 and 3-2 leads in the game but could not hold on for the win; their goals came from Cody Ceci, Bobby Ryan and Maxime Lajoie.
“It’s unfortunate because we did do some really good things,” the Senators’ Matt Duchene said. “We had a big game from [Anderson]. … The thing we’re having trouble with is putting it together for 60 (minutes) right now. That’s basically it. We’re right there. It’s not like we’re miles away. But at the same time, we’ve got to take advantage of games like that.”
Mathieu Joseph and Cedric Paquette also scored for Tampa Bay.
“[Ottawa] earned that lead,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “But I really thought our guys chipped away and it did not come easy, and they had to continue to work, obviously, all the way to the very end. But the group has showed that this year with us, and I thought they deserved the two points tonight.”
[WATCH: All Lightning vs. Senators highlights]
Craig Anderson made 41 saves in the loss.
The Senators players held a closed-door meeting after the game.
“It was just about, as a group, collectively, we had to take some ownership for our play and our results. It’s been a few too many years here for us where the players haven’t taken ownership,” Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki said. “We were talking about it when the going was good at the beginning of the year and things were kind of buzzing a little bit and we had the positive energy and it’s easy to say all that nice stuff, but we’re going through a rough patch here and this is where it’s a true test of our personalities and a true test of the group that we have in here. It’s important to keep that same message.
“We’re not going to start bickering in here and pointing fingers, doing anything stupid like that because we’re going through a tough time. We’re going to get through it together here and we’re going to do our best to really own it.”
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