Gameday Preview: Tampa Lightning @ Ottawa Senators
After a big win against the Boston Bruins yesterday, the Ottawa Senators will look to maintain their perfect record in 2015. Tonight we’ll see the third of four games between these two teams this season.
16-14-7
24-12-4
7:00 PM EST
Canadian Tire Centre
TV: City; Radio: TSN1200
MATCHUP HISTORY
The season series is currently tied at one win apiece, with the Senators winning it in the shootout on October 11th, and the Lightning winning 4-1 on November 29th. These teams have been fairly even recently, both winning three in their last six matchups.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Mike Hoffman, OTT – Hoffman leads the team in goals, and is somehow doing so with exactly zero on the powerplay. Each of his 12 goals has been scored 5-on-5. Meanwhile, David Legwand has scored 5 of his 6 goals on the powerplay. I’m not saying he’s a bad player to have out on the man advantage, but how could you not put your top goal scorer on the powerplay? Hoffman has been on fire lately.
Tyler Johnson, TBL – Johnson has more points that Steven Stamkos, and in less games. I’ll just wait for that to sink in a little.
THREE KEYS TO THE GAME
1. Get more shots – Playing against someone like Ben Bishop is never easy (this includes the actual act of playing against him, as well as watching and knowing that your team gave that up for Cory Conacher). Getting as many shots on net as possible is a must. Teams won’t be able to find an opening too often so the Senators can’t be getting too fancy.
2. Keep them out of the defensive zone – Did I just say that they have to up their offense, then mention that they need to up their defence as well? Yes, yes I did. While getting a lot of pucks on Bishop is going to be important, keeping them from getting shots of their own will be even more important. The Lightning have some extremely talented guys up front who will be an absolute nightmare for the Senators’ defence.
3. Don’t take penalties – While it’s never a good idea to take penalties against any team, taking them against a team as offensively talented as the Lightning is asking to lose. The Senators need to play smart, and their best to not be baited into taking stupid penalties.