The Ottawa Senators puck drop delayed the blackout

It was the night the lights went out at the Canadian Tire Centre.

Just as the Ottawa Senators and St. Louis Blues were finishing warm-ups for Tuesday night's clash, the rink lost power and the start of the game was briefly delayed.

The lights flickered twice and Senator officials had contacted Hydro Ottawa representatives to find out what happened. There were thunderstorms in the area.

Although the rink has a backup generator so it wasn't completely dark, it took a while to get the lights back in the rink and the scoreboard to restart so the Senators could host the Blues.

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The club dropped the puck at 7:33 p.m. after power was fully restored and the regional television broadcast on TSN5 also had to be postponed.

The players entered the ice at 7:23 p.m. to warm up for five minutes and the Zamboni did not take another pass on the ice.

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“The affected districts are Kanata North, Kanata South and Stittsville, including the Sens game,” Hydro Ottawa said. “Our teams have been dispatched. We are working quickly and as safely as possible to restore power to the region.”

TSN color analyst Mike Johnson told viewers that he was downstairs in the club's locker room when the lights went out and the players sat in the dark.

“Claude Giroux told me he was an apprentice electrician when he was 15, so I told him to go and fix it,” Johnson said with a laugh.

Just for good measure, Giroux set up Josh Norris for the opening goal against the Blues after just 1:04 minutes.

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