Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Ottawa Senators Pick & Prediction APRIL 8th 2023
Jimmy Liu
After the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning suffered five-goal defeats in their most recent outings, they both hope to bounce back Saturday night in Ottawa.
The lousy Thursday night for both -- Ottawa absorbing a 7-2 loss at the Florida Panthers, and Tampa Bay being thumped 6-1 at the New York Islanders -- was particularly upsetting for the Lightning, who are trying to prepare for a sixth consecutive appearance in the playoffs.
Meanwhile, the Senators weren't happy about being eliminated from the playoffs for the sixth season in a row, and showed their frustration with several skirmishes on the ice.
With only three games remaining, Tampa Bay (45-28-6, 96 points) lost its third in a row and sixth in nine games (3-6-0). The Lightning are battling through a spate of injuries and are already assured of facing Toronto in the first round of the playoffs, with the Maple Leafs holding home-ice advantage.
For the Lightning, it was a second straight bad night in the Big Apple. With injuries mounting on Jon Cooper's team, the New York Islanders kept pace with Florida in the wild-card chase in a 6-1 throttling of Tampa Bay.
Tampa Bay's greatest concern now is the injuries, which includes setbacks to Anthony Cirelli, Brandon Hagel, and Erik Cernak. Those forced Cooper to move defenseman Haydn Fleury to a forward line. Then winger Pat Maroon went to the dressing room during the contest.
However, the biggest injury was to trade-acquisition Tanner Jeannot in a tangle with Islanders' defenseman Scott Mayfield -- one Cooper deemed "worrisome."
"That's a tough one because he's a big part of our team and he was really coming into his own," Cooper said. "And to see that happen, that's a tough one to watch."
Ottawa (37-35-7, 81 points) had a bad evening on both ends of the ice in Sunrise, Fla. The Senators watched Florida goaltender Alex Lyon put on a spectacular 56-save show as they failed on special teams and lost composure in a resounding 7-2 defeat.
The Panthers held a 2-0 lead after the first period, moved it to 7-1 with a five-goal second and stood tall in a feisty game.
"Obviously, there's a few that we'd like back, but their goalie put a clinic on," Smith said of his squad. "I don't think that's a 7-2 game, I think everyone knows that. They had some tips and they had some things and we've got to find ways to score."
The home side found a way on the power play: Florida went 3-for-6 while the Senators were 0-for-6, including two full minutes of a five-on-three advantage.
Especially harsh: At the end of the Senators' two-man advantage failure, the Panthers' Nick Cousins scored 11 seconds after leaving the penalty box.
Midway through the match, Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk received a game misconduct after fighting twice on the same play. Smith was ejected with 6:52 left, and Mark Kastelic was also booted.
"Everybody had everybody's backs out there," first-line right winger Drake Batherson said. "Some stuff went down, and that's hockey and it's going to happen, but their goalie made some big stops."
--Field Level Media
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Ottawa Senators Recap DEC 11TH 2021
Captain Brady Tkachuk produced his first career hat trick and Anton Forsberg recorded his first career shutout to fuel the Ottawa Senators to a 4-0 win over the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
With his club leading 1-0 in the second period, Tkachuk tallied twice in just under two minutes to give the Senators a healthy cushion.
His final goal was a result of a center-ice flip past defenseman Victor Hedman. The puck rolled the distance and into an empty net for his 11th goal of the season.
Forsberg, 29, stopped all 25 shots he faced to win his fourth straight start.
Top-line center Josh Norris scored for the fourth time in his last five games for Ottawa.
Drake Batherson notched three assists and defenseman Thomas Chabot had a pair for the Senators, who are 4-1-0 in their past five games.
The Senators' penalty-kill unit was a perfect 5-for-5, and their power play connected twice in four advantages.
Tampa Bay's Brian Elliott, who played in parts of his first four NHL seasons with Ottawa, made 19 saves. He lost for the first time in regulation against his former club (7-1-2).
Captain Steven Stamkos' nine-game point streak came to a halt for the Lightning, who finished their road trip with a 4-1-0 record.
The Lightning were all over the Senators in the first seven minutes, but a big hit from Tkachuk woke up the home side.
The gritty Tkachuk leveled the Lightning's Jan Rutta at 5:13 behind Elliott's goal, leaving the defenseman down on the ice and holding his chest.
Rutta returned, but the Senators went up 1-0 at 12:40 of the first period when Norris produced his team-leading 12th goal.
On a faceoff, the Lightning overcommitted out high, which left space in the circles in front of Elliott.
Batherson went from left circle to right and teed up a one-timer for Norris, who roofed home the shot.
In the second, Tim Stutzle's blind, backhanded pass on Ottawa's second power play was finished off by Tkachuk at 3:32.
Tkachuk found the net again when Chabot's blast from the point on Ottawa's third man advantage was tipped by the left winger and redirected in for a 3-0 lead.
--Field Level Media
- NHL
