The Tampa Bay Lightning will look to regain sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division when they visit the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.
The Lightning (48-23-6, 102 points) are even in points with the Buffalo Sabres (47-23-8, 102) after losing 4-2 to Buffalo on Monday. The Montreal Canadiens (45-22-10, 100 points) are right on their heels.
“It’s fun to have a chase. There’s no doubt about that,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “There’s three teams within two points of each other, and Boston’s right there, too (95 points). That will be fun, too. For us, you want to be playing well and you want to get through healthy. That obviously didn’t happen again tonight.”
Forward Pontus Holmberg left the game in the third period after he fell awkwardly into the boards following a hit. Cooper said after the game that the third-line winger is “not good” but didn’t have any further update.
The Lightning also faced the Sabres without second-line center Anthony Cirelli, who was a late scratch because of an undisclosed injury. Tampa Bay already is without winger Brandon Hagel, who missed a third straight game Monday because of a lower-body injury, as well as forward Dominic James and defenseman Declan Carlile.
“They’re missed, for sure,” center Brayden Point said. “They’re two of our best guys, and I thought the guys that filled in did a great job. But hopefully we get those guys back healthy, and we’re ready to go.”
The Senators (40-27-10, 90 points) welcomed back a key cog to their lineup over the weekend with defenseman Jake Sanderson making his return Saturday after being out since March 7 with an upper-body injury.
“Great to play again,” Sanderson said. “A little bit rusty for sure, but you know, as expected. I think just excitement and trying to help this team. The guys have been absolutely grinding lately.”
Ottawa rebounded from a 4-1 Saturday loss to the Minnesota Wild with a 6-3 triumph against the Eastern Conference-leading Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday.
After Saturday’s setback, Ottawa coach Travis Green challenged his top players to be better — and they delivered against Carolina. Captain Brady Tkachuk scored twice, including the go-ahead goal in the second period that gave the Senators a lead they would not relinquish.
Tim Stutzle, Dylan Cozens and Shane Pinto each had a goal and an assist.
“These are fun games to play in,” Green said. “You’ve got to love playing in these types of games. You want players that step up when the stakes are the highest. You don’t want players that don’t look forward to these hard games.”
Stutzle’s status for Tuesday will be one to watch. The forward played limited shifts in the third period and was getting treatment after the game.
The Senators sit in the second wild-card spot in the East, one point ahead of the New York Islanders with a game in hand.
–Field Level Media
