Shane Pinto scores tiebreaking goal late in 3rd and Senators beat Lightning 5-4

Ottawa Senators center Shane Pinto (12) celebrates his goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning with center Ridly Greig (71) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

TAMPA, Fla. — Shane Pinto scored his second goal of the night late in the third period to lift the Ottawa Senators to a 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday in the opener for both clubs.

Dylan Cozens and Artem Zub also scored for the Senators, and Claude Giroux added an empty-netter. Brady Tkachuk had three assists.

Linus Ullmark stopped 21 shots for Ottawa.

Brayden Point had a goal and two assists for Tampa Bay, which fell to 21-10-2 in season openers. Nikita Kucherov scored twice and Oliver Bjorkstrand had a power-play goal.

Andrei Vasilevskiy, who played only two periods in the preseason, finished with 29 saves.

Jake Sanderson intercepted a pass at center ice and transitioned up ice quickly to take the puck to the net, where Pinto punched in a loose puck with 1:47 left to put the Senators ahead for good at 4-3.

The Lightning jumped on top early as Bjorkstrand, acquired from Seattle at the trade deadline last season, slid into the slot to receive a pass from Jake Guentzel and snap a shot past Ullmark with 14:25 left in the first period. Point made it 2-0 less than 90 seconds later, and Cozens answered with a power-play goal for Ottawa midway through the period.

Kucherov regained the two-goal advantage for Tampa Bay with 5:14 left in the first on the Lightning’s second power-play goal of the period.

Zub threw a puck toward net on the opening shift of the second that bounced off the post, then off Vasilevskiy 42 seconds into the period. Pinto converted a breakaway that tied the game with 4:51 left in the second.

Up next

Senators: At Florida on Saturday.

Lightning: Host New Jersey on Saturday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Erik Erlendsson, The Associated Press