Game 54 Hub: Ottawa Senators @ Tampa Bay Lightning

In the midst of another lengthy winning streak, the Ottawa Senators have climbed higher than they've been since 2017. A dominant performance over the Nashville Predators has seen them continue to separate themselves from their rivals while keeping pace with a few pesky teams that are clawing their way back into a furious playoff race.

In other news, the Tampa Bay Lightning are sitting outside of a playoff spot (albeit by a point with two games in hand) in spite of a+34 goal differential. They're still very likely to make it what with their star power and ranking in the league's top half in pretty much every useful category, but with the resilient Blue Jackets and the Derek Lalonde-less Red Wings currently on fire, we could finally see the end of the perennial Cup contender.

That's what makes this two-game series in Tampa so important, because it serves as a chance for either team to establish a stranglehold on a Top-3 spot in the Altantic Division.

Expect the same lineup from yesterday's game with the exception of Linus Ullmark starting in goal:

Game Notes:

• I'm sure Tampa fans are stressed about this one. 4-5-1 in the last 10 games, and have lost 6 of the last 7 games against the Sens and have looked outmatched in each of those losses. They've been high-scoring games, too, with Ottawa averaging 5 goals over that stretch.
• Speaking of high scoring, at least 5 goals have been scored by the Senators in each of the last three games. Tim Stützle (was his hair holding him back?) is back in form with 8 points in his last 5 games and Brady Tkachuk has back-to-back two-point nights.
• Meanwhile, Shane Pinto has recovered from his poor start and has performed like a 2C across Ottawa's 20-7-2 stretch, with 19 points in those 29 games. This is especially important with Josh Norris' absence on this road trip.
• A quick glance at the standings show that Ottawa will stay 3rd in the Atlantic regardless of the outcome tonight, but keep any eye on the Bruins (hosting Minnesota), Blue Jackets (@ Buffalo), and the Maple Leafs (@ Calgary), as we could see Ottawa create a six-point gap on Tampa and sit just two points back of Toronto for 2nd in the division.
• It's a 7:00 pm EST start tonight, and the game is available on RDS, TSN5, and TSN 1200.

Stats:

• from NHL.com and NaturalStatTrick.com