Lightning at Senators
The surging Ottawa Senators open an important three-game homestand in their quest for the Atlantic Division title when they host the red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night. The Senators trail first-place Montreal by two points with a pair of games in hand as they attempt to extend a season-high six-game winning streak, in which opponents managed only 11 goals.
“We’ve had a strong last two weeks, but all we’re focused on right now is getting points, collecting as many as we can and try to set ourselves up to make the playoffs,” Ottawa forward Mike Hoffman told reporters. The Senators could get one of its leading goal scorers back in the lineup as center Kyle Turris (22) is a possibility against the Lightning after missing three games with a finger injury. Tampa Bay moved within one point of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference by gaining at least a point in 14 of its last 16 games (11-2-3) after a huge 3-2 victory at the New York Rangers on Monday. All-Star right wing Nikita Kucherov played a big part in the run for the Lightning, registering 10 goals and 10 assists over the last 10 contests after setting up a pair Monday.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Sun (Tampa Bay), RDS2, TSN 5 (Ottawa)
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (33-26-9): Rookie Brayden Point, who was expected to spend the season in the minors, moved into the No. 1 center role with several key players injured and notched a pair of goals on his 21st birthday Monday. With Tyler Johnson (lower-body) missing his second straight game, Point took his place between Kucherov and Ondrej Palat and pushed his total to 11 goals on the season - ending a six-game drought. Andrei Vasilevskiy, who is 5-0-1 with a .956 save percentage in his last six starts, is expected back in net after being rested Monday.
ABOUT THE SENATORS (39-22-6): While Turris (44 points) could be back, fellow forward Mark Stone (22 goals, 50 points) is considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Captain Erik Karlsson was named third star of the week in the NHL on Monday after the defenseman posted five points in the last two games to push his team-leading total to 63, and registered 12 shots with a plus-4 rating in the two wins. Goalie Craig Anderson is 6-0-0 with a .940 save percentage in his last six starts, allowing two or fewer goals in each contest.
OVERTIME
1. The Lightning won two of the three meetings this season and are 5-2-0 in the last seven games between the Atlantic Division rivals.
2. Ottawa D Mark Borowiecki (upper-body) may return to the lineup Tuesday after missing two games and F Bobby Ryan (hand) could be back as early as this week.
3. Tampa Bay F Vladislav Namestnikov (lower-body) returned after a one-game absence Monday, but aggravated the injury and will be re-evaluated Tuesday.