Confidence was riding high for the Ottawa Senators when they headed to Tampa for two games against the Tampa Bay Lightning over a three-night span. The Senators headed to Tampa on a five-game winning streak after their 5-2 win against the Nashville Predators on Monday night.
As Tuesday arrived, the Senators were four points ahead of the Lightning in the Eastern Conference standings. The Senators came into Tampa in third place in the Atlantic Division with 62 points and had a golden chance to remain ahead of the Lightning in the standings.
Even with being ahead of the Lightning by four points, every game in the East matters with the standings being so tight. Prior to the two games, Zack Ostapchuk and the Senators had a mind set of how they looked at the two games in Tampa, but the games went wrong for the Senators.
Ostapchuk and Sens viewed the games as playoff games in Tampa
Before the first game on Tuesday against the Lightning, Ostapchuk said he and the Senators looked at the two games against the Lightning as playoff games. Long story short, the look went all wrong as the Senators lost both games to the Lightning in regulation.
Zack Ostapchuk says they are looking at these 2 games against Tampa as playoff games.
— TSN 1200 Ottawa (@TSN1200) February 4, 2025
In the first game on Tuesday, the Senators fell 4-3 to the Lightning, but still put up a valiant effort in a tough atmosphere to play in. Last night's game went all wrong for the Senators in the third period when they allowed in three goals to lose the game 5-1.
To make the losses worse, the Lightning gained four huge points on the Senators to jump into third place in the Atlantic Division. The two losses dropped the Senators to the first Wild Card seed.
If two positive things came out of the two games, Michael Amadio scored in back-to-back games and Tim Stutzle extended his point streak to seven games.
Although the Senators are in the first Wild Card, Atlantic Division foe Detroit Red Wings trail the Senators by one point with a game in hand. The Columbus Blue Jackets and Boston Bruins each have 60 points,
Tomorrow night's game for the Senators against the Florida Panthers in Sunrise is a needed game to have to head into the 4 Nations Face-Off with momentum because the Lightning slowed down the Senators' momentum with two losses in a three-night span.