Senators vs. Lightning
THE SERIES SO FAR
This is the first game between the teams this season. The Lightning have lost two in a row and are 4-5-1 in their last 10, but they’re 10-3-0 at home. The Senators are coming off a win in Sunrise over the Panthers and are only 4-6-0 in their last 10. They are 7-5-2 on the road.
KEEP AN EYE ON ...
1. Ben Ben Bishop: Bishop: You’d have to say that, so far, the Lightning have won the trade that sent Bishop to Tampa Bay for Cory Conacher. Bishop has the Lightning sitting pretty, fifth in the Eastern Conference. 2. The The injury injury list: list: The Lightning have seven players out with injuries: defencemen Eric Brewer (lower body), Radko Gudas (upper body) and Brian Lee (knee); along with forwards Ryan Malone (ankle), Steven Stamkos (broken right leg), Tom Pyatt (broken collarbone) and Pierre-Cedric Labrie (left arm/elbow).
3. Tampa Bay’s missing offence: The Lightning were blanked in consecutive games by the Penguins (3-0) and the Blue Jackets (1-0) for the first time in 10 years, since Nov. 2003 (when they had a scoreless tie with Carolina and lost 2-0 to the Rangers).
4. Can the Senators complete a Florida double? They’ve won back-to-back games only twice this season and not since Nov. 5-9, when they won three straight.
5. The penalty box: The Senators continue to play with fire. They’re the fourth-most penalized team in the league at 13.7 minutes per game. Fortunately, with Stamkos out, the Tampa Bay power play (16.7 per cent) has tanked recently, converting only four of its last 56 chances.