Mark Stone scored the tiebreaking goal just past the midway point of the third period, and Ottawa added two more later as the Senators defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-3, on Saturday night in Ottawa.

Stone scored from the right circle, grabbing a loose puck and putting a shot just under the crossbar after a Tampa Bay turnover with 9:16 left in the game. That gave the Senators the lead for good at 4-3.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau, an Ottawa native, and Ryan Dzingel also scored in the third period for the 6-3 final.

The Senators now have posted six goals in each of the last two games. They also did it in Friday's 6-5 overtime victory over San Jose where Matt Duchene scored the game-winner seven seconds into the extra period.

In this game, Stone finished with his big goal and two assists while teammate Erik Karlsson added three helpers - two in the three-goal third period. Dzingel finished with two goals.

The Lightning kept goalie Craig Anderson busy. Anderson made 45 saves as Tampa Bay outshot Ottawa 48-33.

Despite the loss, Tampa Bay (29-9-3) remains on top of the Atlantic Division as well as the NHL with 61 points. The Lightning had numerous chances but converted just one of five power plays and were hurt by some turnovers.

Ottawa started fast on Saturday, scoring the game's first three goals for a 3-0 lead after one.

Dzingel and Duchene scored 63 seconds apart for a 2-0 lead at 5:51, and Zack Smith made it 3-0 later in the period as he beat goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.

However, the second period belonged to Tampa Bay.

The Lightning struck quickly in that period as Victor Hedman scored 26 seconds in, and Slater Koekkok added another goal just 1:15 after that, reducing Ottawa's lead to 3-2. Yanni Gourde tied it with 4:03 left in the period by tipping a Mikhail Sergachev blast past Anderson.

Tampa Bay finished the period with 20 shots, the three goals, and seemingly turned the game's momentum around. The Lightning also dominated the first part of the third period but Ottawa kept Tampa Bay off the scoreboard.

--Field Level Media