Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos finished a two-point outing by notching the go-ahead goal in the third period as the Lightning defeated the host Ottawa Senators 5-3 in a Saturday matinee match.

With the score 2-2, Stamkos found a rebound off Alex Killorn's shot and lifted it into the net for his sixth tally of the season and a 3-2 lead at 7:32.

Ondrej Palat, who had two assists, scored on a breakaway at 18:19 to seal the victory for the Lightning, who split their two-game trip into Canada.

After a slow start, Tampa Bay is 4-0-1 in its past five games and collected three points north of the border.

Defensemen Victor Hedman and Jan Rutta scored their first goals this season, and Anthony Cirelli (two points) made an empty-netter with 34 seconds left for a 5-2 lead.

Originally drafted by Ottawa in 2003, backup goalie Brian Elliott got the nod in net for Tampa Bay and allowed three goals while facing 27 shots.

Elliott, 36, is 7-0-2 in his career against the Senators.

Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev served the first of his two-game suspension for Thursday's illegal check to the head of Toronto's Mitchell Marner.

He was replaced on the back end by Fredrik Claesson, who made his season debut paired with Erik Cernak.

In his first game as Ottawa's 10th captain in franchise history, Brady Tkachuk scored a tying goal in the second period. Connor Brown and Logan Shaw also tallied for the Senators, who are 1-6-1 in their past eight contests.

Matt Murray stopped 28 of 32 shots and dropped to 0-3-0.

After Ottawa's Dylan Gambrell was whistled for a slashing minor against Taylor Raddysh in the first period, Hedman blasted his first from out near the blue line for a 1-0 lead.

Early in the second, Brown tied it at 1 when he stripped the puck from Cal Foote in the offensive zone and roofed his second tally over Elliott.

Rutta, who did not score a goal in 35 regular-season games last year, slipped into the slot and scored his first of this season after a slick pass from Palat to break the tie at 10:06.

Drake Batherson's nifty pass to Tkachuk ended with the new captain ripping home his third marker in the last minute to make it 2-2 after 40 minutes.

--Field Level Media