Tampa Bay Lightning Ready for the Ottawa Senators (Preview)

Let’s take a look at the matchup tonight between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Ottawa Senators.

Tonight, the doors to the Amalie Arena will swing open and the members of the Bolts Nation will flood into their seats to watch as the Tampa Bay Lightning host the Ottawa Senators in the second game in their four-game opening home stand.

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It may have taken a spectacular shot from Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman in the extra frame to get the job done, but the Bolts defeated their in-state rivals, the Florida Panthers, on Thursday night at the 2014-15 Tampa Bay Lightning Home Opener.

Now that we have one game in the books, there are five players that have points heading into the second game of the season. Lightning center Valtteri Filppula and Victor Hedman lead the team with two points each; Filppula with two assists and Hedman with a goal and an assist.

Also finding their way to the scoreboard in the encounter were right wing Ryan Callahan, center Tyler Johnson, and defenseman Anton Stralman. Johnson has one goal to his name while Callahan and Stralman notched assists.

On the other side of the ice, some missteps late in their first game of the season led to the Senators falling 3-2 to the Shea Webber and the Nashville Predators. Despite not being able to get the job done when the final buzzer sounded, the Senators have six players that found their names on the scoresheet.

Senators center Kyle Turris and right wing Alex Chiasson both notched a goal while left wing Clarke MacArthur and defensemen Chris Phillips, Mark Borowiecki, and Cody Ceci all nabbed assists.

The Bolts were able to put a little more offensive pressure on the Panthers than the Sens were able to put on the Preds. Whereas Tampa Bay registered 32 shots on goal in their opening encounter, the Ottawa only put up 20.

Where the big difference comes into play is what the Senators seem to lack in offensive pressure, they have an abundance of in physicality. They have some big guys who are not afraid to hit and some that are not afraid to get ugly when the opportunity presents itself. (Here’s looking at you, Chris Neil.)

The good news is, where the Lightning has been pretty vulnerable in past seasons when it comes to team physicality, it would seem as if this is an issue of the past. Everyone on our roster, even people that have never shown this kind of passion before, have been hitting harder and pushing back when they are taken to the brink.

It also doesn’t hurt that we’ve added a few decent sized bodies on defense like Jason Garrison and Anton Stralman.

This is certainly not going to be a walk in the park sort of game for the Tampa Bay Lightning, but judging off of what we have seen thus far, if the Bolts can clean up a few of the snags they hit in the last encounter and keep the pressure on the Senators for all three periods, there is a very good chance that the Bolts will head back to the locker room with another win in the books.

Who do you think will walk out of the Amalie Arena with the win tonight? Which players do you think will add to their point totals against Ottawa? What do you think the score will be when the final buzzer sounds? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. tonight. If you need information on where to find the game, all you have to do is click right here.

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