TAMPA, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Lightning finally came out on the winning side of a one-goal game at home. Nikita Kucherov scored the lone shootout goal and the Lightning beat the Ottawa Senators 4-3 on Thursday night. Kucherov beat Craig Anderson on the first shot during the shootout, while Lightning goalie Ben Bishop stopped all three shots he faced. Tyler Johnson, B.J. Crombeen and Ondrej Palat scored in regulation for the Lightning, who had lost each of their previous five home games (0-3-2) by one goal. Victor Hedman, who sat out a game with a leg injury, had three assists in his return. "We want to be up there in the top of the league," Hedman said. "We have to find ways to win." Tampa Bay moved into a first-place tie with Boston -- which has two games at hand -- in the Atlantic Division. Erik Karlsson, Clarke MacArthur and Chris Neil had the Ottawa goals. The Senators are 2-6 in shootouts this season. "Its a skills competition," Anderson said. "It should be reserved for All-Star games." Neil tied it at 3 from the right circle with 2:18 remaining in the third. It was his 100th NHL goal. "It was a while coming," said Neil, who has played in 824 NHL games. "Obviously, the way I play, just plugging around and sticking around, it is a milestone. Ive got the puck. It will go up in my basement." Tampa Bay went ahead 3-2 at 5:31 of the third when Martin St. Louis extended his point streak to nine games by sending a pass through the slot to Palat, who scored from just below the left circle. "You dont like to give up the extra point to somebody in our division, but I just want to make sure we get two," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. St. Louis (963) moved within two points of tying Maurice Richard (965) for 85th on the NHL list. Crombeens redirection put the Lightning up 2-1 at 3:30 of the second. MacArthur got the Senators even at 2 by putting an in-close power-play shot past Bishop with 3:03 left in the second. Ottawas power play, the NHLs top-ranked road unit, had mixed results in its second opportunity in the first period. After Johnson beat Anderson for a short-handed goal at 14:32, Karlsson tied it at 1 on his third goal and 23rd man-advantage point of the season 40 seconds later. The Senators are 29th in the home power-play rankings. "You tell me. Ive been trying to answer that question for 50 games," Ottawa coach Paul MacLean said. "Im not sure if its a comfort level or what it is, but weve got to keep working on it. We believe that if we continue to work at it, its going to get good everywhere." Anderson was coming off a 2-0 victory Tuesday at Washington, which was the Senators second straight road shutout. NOTES: Tampa Bay star Steven Stamkos, sidelined since breaking his right shin on Nov. 11, was OK after taking a spill during a drill at the teams morning skate. "I was kind of laughing," Stamkos said. "Its the first time Ive fallen in 10 weeks. Just knowing that everything was fine, you get right back up, I didnt feel anything whatsoever. So, thats nice." Stamkos, who hasnt ruled out playing in the Sochi Olympics next month, was scheduled to have X-rays Thursday night to see how the leg is progressing. ... MacLean used the same lineup as the Washington game, including D Marc Methot being scratched. ... Chicago Blackhawks senior adviser and 13-time Stanley Cup winner Scotty Bowman, a regular at Lightning home games, is scheduled to have right knee replacement surgery Friday in Tampa. Wholesale Yeezy China . According to a report from CSN Bay Area, the 49ers are bracing for 6-8 game suspension for their outside linebacker. Fake Yeezy China . Keenum will make his first appearance in a regular-season game against the rugged defence of the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, where the fans just set a Guinness record as the noisiest outdoor stadium in the world. https://www.yeezychina.us/.J. Hardy finally got in on the fun Saturday, against a likely opponent. Yeezy China .Y. - His opponent couldnt stop him, and LeBron James didnt quite know what to think when his coach tried. Cheap Yeezy Free Shipping . - This win was more the New Jersey Devils style. MINNEAPOLIS -- The Oakland Athletics can win a lot of different ways, as evidenced by their two-year hold on the AL West division title. Yoenis Cespedes proved he can play through a hurting right heel, giving Scott Kazmir and the As a spark with a pair of RBIs that helped spoil the Minnesota Twins home opener with an 8-3 victory on Monday. "When were swinging well, we feel like we have a deep lineup," As manager Bob Melvin said. Cespedes has been hobbling around the last few days with the injury, but the team wasnt worried enough about it to hold him out. The Cuban slugger followed a leadoff walk to Brandon Moss by crushing a double in the second inning for the first run against Kevin Correia (0-1) and hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh. Moss added a two-run single in the third and Derek Norris homered in the sixth. "Everyone knows their strengths and they dont go outside of their game, and I think thats what makes us a great overall ballclub and very deadly down the stretch of the whole season," Norris said. Jed Lowrie hit what the As believed was a home run down the right-field line in the third inning, but the call on the field was a foul ball and the umpire-initiated review, which lasted more than four minutes, upheld the ruling. Lowrie took a walk instead and later scored. Kazmir (2-0), who stymied with Twins in five starts against them last season for Cleveland, completed six innings with six hits, three runs and four walks allowed. He struck out five, and RBI doubles by Aaron Hicks and Jason Kubel were the only damaging hits against him. This wasnt his best, but Kazmir got enough quick outs to stay in there. "Not very efficient with my pitches, but theres going to be days like that so I need to be able to battle. To get six out of that, thats something you can build on," he said. The 30-year-old Kazmir dazzled in his As debut with 7 1-3 scoreless innings last week against his old team, the Indians. He did the same against the Twins in 2013, going 3-0 with a 1.45 ERA in 31 innings with 36 strikeouts. WWith Jarrod Parker, a 12-game winner last year, out for the season following elbow ligament replacement surgery and A.ddddddddddddJ. Griffin not yet ready because of a spring arm injury, the rotation took a hit. Kazmir, then, is that much more valuable. Oh, and so is the lineup. "All the way through, guys are taking quality at-bats and really working the starting pitcher early in the game. That goes a long way as far as getting the win," Kazmir said. Correia came out with two outs in the sixth. He yielded nine hits, six runs and two walks while striking out three. "He started pounding inside a bit better and his last couple innings were better because of that," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "But you cant just stay out and over the plate on these guys." Alberto Callaspo and Josh Reddick also drove in runs for the As, who played without centre fielder Coco Crisp because of a sore left wrist. Norris, Callaspo and Josh Donaldson each had two hits. "I just threw a couple bad pitches in situations where I had a chance to get out of a jam," Correia said. "Thats what Ive been able to do the last couple years." NOTES: Lowrie was hit by a pitch on the lower right leg in the seventh inning and was in too much pain to stay in the game. Nick Punto, who played seven seasons for the Twins, entered as a pinch runner and eventually scored on a balk by Sam Deduno. ... The Athletics made a bullpen shuffle before the game, reinstating RH Ryan Cook from the disabled list and sending RH Evan Scribner to Triple-A Sacramento. Cook, who was out with shoulder tendinitis, struck out two in a hitless ninth. ... Attendance was announced at 35,837, more than 3,000 below official capacity. .... The Twins had left fielder Josh Willingham (left wrist) and right fielder Oswaldo Arcia (right wrist) both out of the lineup. ... The three-game series resumes on Wednesday afternoon, with RH Jesse Chavez (0-0, 1.50 ERA) pitching for the As against Twins RH Phil Hughes (0-0, 7.20 ERA). ' ' '
