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Triplets reunite, power Bolts to win over Sens

Bobby Ryan, Tyler Johnson

Bobby Ryan, Tyler Johnson

AP

After missing the last 12 games with a leg injury, Ondrej Palat drew back into the Tampa Bay lineup tonight alongside his Triplet Line running mates, Nikita Kucherov and Tyler Johnson.

It was quite the reunion.

Kucherov scored a pair of goals, including the insurance marker, as the Bolts beat the Senators 4-1 at Amalie on Thursday night. J.T. Brown and Ryan Callahan both finished with two points -- and a whopping 10 combined shots -- while Ben Bishop made 30 saves for his 20th win of the year.

The win, Tampa Bay’s third in its last four games, pushed the club to 14-12-3 on the year and just one point back of Pittsburgh for the final wild card spot on the Eastern Conference. While some might think it’s too early to start talking about playoff jockeying, the Bolts have been erratic through the first three months of the season and, to put things in perspective, came into tonight 12 points back of Atlantic Division-leading Montreal.

They also came in six points back of tonight’s opponent.

Speaking of the Sens, tonight’s game was quiet from an offensive standpoint. The NHL’s fourth highest-scoring club got off to a slow start -- just eight shots in the opening period -- and their lone goal came from defensman Cody Ceci, his third of the year.

The loss was Ottawa’s second in the last three games of this current road swing. The Sens finish things off on Saturday in Montreal; the Lightning are also back in action on Saturday, when they host the Capitals.