Lightning at Senators
Captain Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning are back on a roll and look to continue their run toward the playoffs when they visit the struggling Ottawa Senators on Thursday. The Lightning responded to a 1-4-0 slump after the Olympics with a six-game point streak and four wins in a row, capped by Stamkos’ hat trick in a 5-3 victory at Toronto on Wednesday. The Senators will need a major turnaround to climb back into the playoff race after going 1-4-2 in their last seven contests.
The Lightning are tied in points with Montreal for second place in the Atlantic Division, with a game in hand, and have scored 23 goals during their 4-0-2 run. Stamkos has five goals in seven games since returning from a broken leg and fellow center Valtteri Filppula has raised his game to another level. Tampa Bay must contain Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson, who leads the team and is tops in the league among defensemen with 62 points.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, SunSports (Tampa Bay), SNET-E and TVA (Ottawa)
ABOUT THE SENATORS (28-27-13): Ottawa may have hit rock bottom after giving up seven goals in the final two periods of an 8-4 loss to the New York Rangers at home Tuesday. “They get the lead on a goal and we just unravel,” Senators captain Jason Spezza told reporters. “It’s kind of been the same all year for us. We haven’t been consistent enough.” Goalie Craig Anderson, who has missed the last three games with an undisclosed injury, was on the ice for practice Wednesday but is not likely to play against Tampa Bay.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (38-24-7): Filppula has points in six straight games, including two goals and eight assists, and set up a pair of tallies on Wednesday – one on a nifty cross-ice feed to Stamkos on the power play. Tyler Johnson, who has been moved to the wing on Stamkos’ line after playing at center, has five goals in eight contests. Power forward Ryan Malone, who is back n the lineup the last three games after being a healthy scratch the previous four, notched his first points since Jan. 19 with two assists against Toronto.
OVERTIME
1. Spezza has collected 17 points in the last 12 games and stands second on the team with 56.
2. Tampa Bay LW Ondrej Palat leads all rookies with a plus-28 rating and is second behind Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon with 46 points.
3. The Senators have beaten the Lightning in five straight meetings in Ottawa, including a 5-3 triumph Jan. 30.