Senators at Lightning
The Ottawa Senators hope to rebound from an uncharacteristically sloppy performance when they visit the struggling Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night in a battle of Atlantic Division rivals. The Senators saw their six-game point streak come to an end with a 6-5 loss at Florida on Tuesday despite 41 shots on goal in the first contest after the All-Star break.
“When you look at the game, I think it was a typical after-the-break pond hockey game,” Ottawa coach Guy Boucher, who led Tampa Bay to the Eastern Conference finals in 2011, told reporters. “Fluky goals happen and we just have to move on.” The Lightning continued their rapid descent with a 4-3 loss to Boston at home on Tuesday and are 2-4-2 over the last eight contests while managing three wins in 13 January games. Tampa Bay had an 8-4 edge in shots during the first period and Alex Killorn’s first of two goals gave it the lead midway through the second, but the Lightning were outshot 31-13 in the final 40 minutes. “Fifty games, I’m not mystified anymore - it’s becoming a regular occurrence,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper told reporters. “How many times do I have to say consistency?”
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, RDS2, TSN5 (Ottawa), FSN Sun (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE SENATORS (26-16-6): Ottawa has games in hand on many of its competitors in the Atlantic Division, but needs a strong effort after going 1-1-2 in the last four contests and giving up at least six goals for the second time in four outings. All-Star defenseman Erik Karlsson notched a goal and an assist Tuesday to push his team-leading total to 41 points and forward Ryan Dzingel scored twice. Mike Hoffman was kept off the scoresheet against Florida, but owns seven goals in the last nine contests, and fellow forward Zack Smith boasts six points during a four-game point streak.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (22-23-6): Killorn pushed his total to 15 goals, tied with Tyler Johnson for second on the team behind All-Star Nikita Kucherov (19), but Tampa Bay failed again on a power play that is 3-for-26 in the last eight games. Rookie forward Brayden Point (upper-body) returned to the lineup Tuesday for the first time in just over a month and scored his fourth goal of the campaign in the third period. All-Star defenseman Victor Hedman snapped out of a four-game point drought with three assists against Boston and his blue line partner Jack Dotchin recorded his first career point.
OVERTIME
1. Tampa Bay G Andrei Vasilevskiy, who owns a .940 save percentage in his last five outings, will likely be in net after sitting out Tuesday.
2. The Lightning are 6-1-1 in the last eight meetings, including a 4-1 win at Ottawa on Oct. 22.
3. Ottawa RW Bobby Ryan picked up his production in January, posting four goals and three assists in the last nine games.