Drake Batherson scores twice as the Senators knock off the Lightning 5-4

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Drake Batherson had two goals and an assist, and the Ottawa Senators handed Tampa Bay its first loss of the season with a 5-4 victory over the Lightning on Saturday.

Josh Norris, Brady Tkachuk and Noah Gregor also scored for Ottawa (3-2-0), and Anton Forsberg made 25 saves. Jake Sanderson collected three assists.

Gregor’s short-handed goal lifted the Senators to a 5-3 lead 6:17 into the third period. It was his first goal of the season.

Nikita Kucherov scored his NHL-best seventh goal for Tampa Bay. Nick Paul, Jake Guentzel and Mitchell Chaffee also scored for the Lightning (3-1-0).

Forsberg made a big save on Kucherov with 56.4 seconds remaining.

Andrei Vasilevsky stopped 23 shots for Tampa Bay.

TAKEAWAYS

Senators: G Linus Ullmark missed his third straight game with what has been described as a strain. Ullmark practiced this week but didn’t dress as the backup.

Lightning: Went 0 for 3 on the man advantage after scoring on the power play in their first three games.

KEY MOMENT

Clinging to a 4-3 lead, the Senators killed a 48-second, two-man advantage early in the third period.

KEY STAT

With seven goals and two assists over four games, Kucherov is off to the most productive start of his career.

UP NEXT

The Lightning visit the Maple Leafs on Monday. The Senators are at Utah on Tuesday.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Tampa Bay Lightning defenceman Victor Hedman (77) shoots the puck as Ottawa Senators left wing Noah Gregor (73) defends, during first period NHL hockey action in Ottawa, on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

Ottawa Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg (31) makes a save on Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Brandon Hagel (38) during first period NHL hockey action in Ottawa, on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh (27) and Ottawa Senators center Tim Stutzle (18) crash into the boards during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Ottawa, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

Ottawa Senators left wing Brady Tkachuk celebrates his goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning with teammate Drake Batherson (19) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Ottawa, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

Ottawa Senators head coach Travis Green directs his players from the bench during first period NHL hockey action between the Senators and the Tampa Bay Lightning in Ottawa, on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) watches as Ottawa Senators left wing David Perron (57) and Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Nicholas Paul (20) chase the puck as it bounces behind the net during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Ottawa, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Nicholas Paul (20) celebrates a goal against the Ottawa Senators during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Ottawa, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

Ottawa Senators right wing Drake Batherson (19) watches his shot go in the net behind Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Ottawa, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

Ottawa Senators right wing Drake Batherson (19) celebrates a goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Ottawa, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

Ottawa Senators right wing Drake Batherson (19) celebrates his goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during second period NHL hockey action in Ottawa, on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

HAVANA (AP) — Some electricity was restored in Cuba, the government said Saturday, after the island nation's worst blackout in at least two years kicked in when a major power plant failed and left millions without electricity for two days.

Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said the country had 500 megawatts in its electrical grid early Saturday, compared to the 3 gigawatts that are normally generated. He posted on the social media platform X that “several substations in the west now have electricity.”

O Levy also said two thermoelectric power plants are back and two more will resume their operations “in the next few hours.”

About half of Cuba was plunged into darkness on Thursday evening, followed by the entire island on Friday morning after the plant failed.

Havana's electricity company said in a statement earlier Saturday that a part of its western system was disconnected “after the exit of one of the plants that was delivering service.” That issue has left some parts of the city in the dark once again, with the total megawatts dropping from 500 to 370.

The streets of Cuba's capital, where 2 million people live, were quiet on Saturday, with few cars driving by after a night that was lit by candles and lamps. The impact of the blackout goes beyond lighting, as services like water supply also depend on electricity to run pumps.

The blackout was considered to be Cuba's worst in two years, after a Category 3 hurricane damaged power installations and it took days for the government to fix them. This year, some homes have spent up to eight hours a day without electricity.

Besides the Antonio Guiteras plant, whose failure on Friday affected the entire national system, Cuba has several others and it wasn’t immediately clear whether they remained functional.

There is no official estimate for when the blackout will end. Even in a country that is used to outages as part of a deepening economic crisis, Friday’s collapse was massive.

The Cuban government has announced emergency measures to slash electricity demand, including suspending school and university classes, shutting down some state-owned workplaces and canceling nonessential services. Officials said that 1.64 gigawatts went offline during peak hours, about half the total demand at the time.

Local authorities said the outage, which started on a small scale Thursday, stemmed from increased demand from small- and medium-sized companies and residential air conditioners. Later, the blackout got worse due to breakdowns in old thermoelectric plants that haven’t been properly maintained and the lack of fuel to operate some facilities.

Changes to electricity rates for small- and medium-sized companies, which have proliferated since they were first authorized by the communist government in 2021, are also being considered.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Residents pass the time during a massive blackout after a major power plant failed in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A woman prepares to catch a tossed frisbee during a massive blackout after a major power plant failed in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)