After a disappointing loss in their season opener, the Ottawa Senators look to get back on track with a quick trip through the Sunshine State.
It starts with a Saturday night tilt against the Lightning before they head to Sunrise to take on the Florida Panthers on Monday night.
On Thursday, the Senators played a solid forty minutes but could not hold off the Nashville Predators in a frantic third period. They’ll need to play the full sixty minutes against the high-flying Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tampa Bay won their season open against the Florida Panthers on Thursday. With Ben Bishop in goal and Steven Stamkos- who is as dangerous as any player in the league- the Lightning are expected to be one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference this season. They added Jason Garrison and Anton Strolman to their blueline and should be an improved team defensively. Up front they have a good mix of young talent and veteran leadership and should be a handful for the Senators tonight.
For Ottawa, the biggest challenge will be cleaning up some of the little mistakes that cost them the two points in Nashville. As much as the defence took the bulk of the blame after Thursday’s loss, they also need to find a way to generate more quality chances against the Lightning. Ben Bishop is among the top goalies in the NHL and usually stops the first shot. Ottawa has to find a way to generate second and third chances and create havoc in front of the freakishly tall netminder.
The Senators will go with the same line up as Thursday in Nashville.
MacArthur-Turris-Ryan
Michalek-Zibanejad-Chiasson
Smith-Legwand-Stone
Hoffman-Lazar-Neil
Cowen-Karlsson
Phillips-Ceci
Borowiecki-Gryba
Robin Lehner gets the start in the Ottawa goal. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM with the game available on Sportsnet One.
