Kucherov scores twice, Lightning beat Senators 4-1

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov had two goals, Ben Bishop made 30 saves and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Ottawa Senators 4-1 on Thursday night.
Valtteri Filppula and J.T. Brown also scored for the Lightning.
Ottawa got a goal from Cody Ceci.
Kucherov opened the scoring from the slot off a pass from Steven Stamkos during a 5-on-3 power play with 7.5 seconds left in the first. The two-man advantage came after both Chris Wideman and Mark Borowiecki were given minor penalties with 1:16 left in the first.
Kucherov made it 3-0 on a rebound of his own shot at 8:33 of the third.
Ceci got his first goal in 15 games to end Bishop's shutout bid with 7:54 to play in the third.
Bishop made a save on an in-close backhander from Jean-Gabriel Pageau, then stopped the Ottawa center's low left circle shot seconds later midway through the first.
Craig Anderson, making his 13th consecutive start, kept the Senators within one goal 2 minutes into the second by stopping Filppula's shot from the low left circle.
Filppula joined a rush after serving a minor penalty and scored 25 seconds into the third period for a 2-0 lead.
Brown added a late empty-net goal.
NOTES: Lightning LW Ondrej Palat returned after missing 12 games with an ankle injury. ... Ottawa sent G Andrew Hammond (upper body) to Binghamton of the AHL for a conditioning assignment. He's been out since Nov. 14. ... Tampa Bay assigned backup G Andrei Vasilevskiy to Syracuse and recalled G Kristers Gudlevskis from the AHL club. The move allows Vasilevskiy, who missed the first month of the season due to a blood clot near his collarbone, to get playing time. ... Stamkos has gone seven straight games without scoring a goal.