Senators at Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning will try to recover from a disparaging road loss when they start a six-game homestand against the Atlantic Division-rival Ottawa Senators on Sunday. Injury-plagued Tampa Bay let a three-goal lead slip away in a 5-3 defeat at Washington on Friday after winning the first two on its road trip.
The Lightning, who were down six forwards due to injuries, allowed three power-play goals in the final 26:11 on Friday. “We have to get back to a little bit of discipline there and play smarter,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper told reporters. “We’ve had some games here of late where we’ve taken late penalties, and if you are going to keep doing that, eventually you are not going to kill them off.” The Senators come in off a solid 4-2 win over San Jose on Friday and attempt to avenge a 4-1 loss at Tampa Bay on Dec. 10. Bobby Ryan has tallied in each of the last two games for Ottawa and needs one to reach 200 in his career.
TV: 5 p.m. ET, TSN5, RDS2 (Ottawa), Sun Sports (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE SENATORS (17-11-5): Ryan is second on the team with 32 points after notching four in his last three games and trails only captain Erik Karlsson (36), who has notched two goals and two assists in his last three contests. Mike Hoffman was blanked at Tampa Bay but has a team-leading 17 goals, including two in the 5-3 win over red-hot Los Angeles on Monday. Craig Anderson is 19-7-4 with a .937 save percentage in his career against Tampa Bay and Florida, which Ottawa visits Tuesday.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (16-14-3): Ben Bishop, who on Friday allowed more than two goals for the first time in seven games this month, is 7-0-3 lifetime against the Senators. Erik Condra and Cedric Paquette are closing in on a return to the lineup while fellow forwards Jonathan Drouin, Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat are not likely to be back for Sunday’s contest. Captain Steven Stamkos snapped his 10-game goal-scoring drought Friday and leads the team with 23 points – two better than linemate Nikita Kucherov.
OVERTIME
1. The Lightning have earned at least one point in each of their last seven meetings (4-0-3) with the Senators.
2. Ottawa D Jared Cowen, who finished last season with a minus-11 rating, tops all blue-liners on the team with a plus-9 in 2015-16.
3. Tampa Bay D Victor Hedman, who turned 25 on Friday, has a team-best 15 assists and is one point from 200 in his career.