DiDomenico gets new lease on life with Bolts

On Wednesday, Gabriel Dumont arrived with the Ottawa Senators, carrying his Tampa Bay Lightning equipment bag with him. On Friday, Chris DiDomenico left with his Ottawa Senators equipment bag, en route to join the Tampa Bay Lightning.

He was plucked off waivers by the Lightning Friday, capping a bizarre game of trading places that had also seen the Senators pick up Dumont off waivers from the Lightning. With one phone call, DiDomenico went from having one foot back in the AHL to having a legitimate shot at winning the Stanley Cup this year. If DiDomenico does anything to help Tampa go on a long playoff run, Senators GM Pierre Dorion is going to be on the hot seat.

“To be honest, I really didn’t think it was going to happen,” said DiDomenico, who flew with the Senators to Columbus from Washington, and was preparing to join Belleville of the AHL.

“I’m excited. It shows another team is interested in me. But it also sucks to be leaving Ottawa, (the team) which gave me another chance to play in the NHL. I give them all the thanks in the world for that.”

DiDomenico provided an earlyseason offensive spark after being called up from Belleville, scoring three goals and three assists in his first eight games.

He was pointless in his final four, steadily losing ice time and was a healthy scratch for Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to Washington.

THAT FIRST ROUND PICK

With the Senators sitting 25th overall in the NHL standings before Friday’s games, a reminder about the small print included in the Matt Duchene trade.

If the Senators finish among the NHL’s bottom 10 teams, they will keep their 2018 first-round selection and the Avalanche would get the Senators’ 2019 first-round choice instead.

That would be a nightmare scenario for the entire Senators organization, but so far, so good for Avalanche GM Joe Sakic.

Before Friday’s games, Colorado was tied for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.