No rest for the weary as the Tampa Bay Lightning have to cross the border and be right back at it tonight against the Ottawa Senators. The Bolts are now 1-1 on the season, as are the Senators following their 5-2 win over Philadelphia last night.
Ottawa is seen as a potential sleeper team to make the playoffs this year, so Tampa can take nothing for granted.
Tampa Bay Lightning: The grind kicks into gear
Last night was not the best effort from the Lightning. Jonas Johansson was under siege all night, and even though he gave up five goals, the expected goals for Detroit on the night was 4.02, so it’s not like the scoreline wasn’t warranted.
In reality, Tampa was fortunate to keep the game close and score four goals off just 25 shots.
Tampa did do some line shuffling after the injury to Tyler Motte, but the A-squad line of Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, and Nikita Kucherov had the most effective night for the Lightning.
Who to watch on Ottawa
During even-strength play last night, Ottawa wasn’t anything special against Philly. They had just 36 shot attempts during 5 v 5 play, 21 of which made it on the net. Ottawa did their damage on the power play, netting two powerplay goals past Carter Hart.
The top line for the Senators will be comprised of Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle, and Claude Giroux. Tkachuk, of course, is the brother of Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk. Brady had 35 goals last season.
Giroux is the former long-time captain of Philadelphia.
Ottawa also had a line of Mathieu Joseph, Ridly Greig, and Vladimir Tarasenko last night. Much like his time with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Joseph is still a grinder who doesn’t have a scoring touch beyond random moments. Injuries have robbed Tarasenko these last couple of years. When healthy like he was in 2021-22, he is still a top-tier player.
He was traded from St. Louis to the New York Rangers last season and signed with Ottawa in free agency.
Vegas Says…
This is as close to a toss-up as you are going to get in the NHL. Tampa is listed at -105 but is considered the underdogs on the money line because Ottawa is listed at -115.
Vegas does have faith that Tampa stays within a goal. The Lightning is listed at -250 to cover the 1.5 goal spread (in other words, bet 25 dollars to net 10 dollars that Tampa will either outright win or only lose by one goal).
The over/under is at the standard 6.5 goals, and both of Tampa’s games have hit the over this season.