The State of Florida’s run through Canada’s Capital continues on Saturday night, with the Tampa Bay Lightning visiting Ottawa for another matchup against the Senators. The Senators, fresh off a disappointing 6-3 loss to the Florida Panthers, are looking for their first victory of the new calendar year. Before providing a quick preview of the Lightning game, here are Thursday’s thumbs:
Thumbs Up: The First and Third Periods
The final score led to a lot of social media sadness following the game, but it’s not as though the Senators were brutal for the entire evening. Fans in attendance were treated to two pretty good periods of Senators hockey. Per Natural Stat Trick, the Sens controlled more than 60% of the five-on-five shot attempts and more than 50% of the five-on-five expected goals in the first and third frames. It was an unfortunate latter half of the second period, and specifically the two Panther goals in the last minute, that were enough to overwhelm the effort.
Thumbs Down: Goaltending
It’s not as though any of the goals against in that second period were particularly egregious, but it would have been nice to see Craig Anderson make stops on the two last-minute second period markers. The Frank Vatrano one-timer to make it a 3-2 game, in particular, stood out to me as a real backbreaker. Thomas Chabot played the two-on-one perfectly by forcing Evgenii Dadonov to the side boards and eliminating the shot, so Anderson had to know the pass was coming. There’s no doubt that the one-timer was powerful, but it didn’t seem unstoppable.
Thumbs Up: Trade Deadline Candidates
It was a good night for Ottawa’s pending restricted and unrestricted free agents. Tyler Ennis had a goal and an assist, bringing his season totals to 11 and 12 respectively. Chris Tierney scored his fifth of the season. Anthony Duclair added an assist. Even Connor Brown got in on the action with his seventh goal of the campaign.
A lot of the mainstream commentary heading into the season suggested that Ottawa’s roster was a patchwork of misfits, but that collection of players has come together and surpassed expectations in so many ways. It’s going to be a real benefit for Pierre Dorion as he heads into the trade deadline, as players once viewed as afterthoughts may now have decent value on the open market.
Thumbs Neutral: Rudolfs Balcers’ Debut
Here’s one where the eye test and the fancy stats don’t really line up for me. When watching the game, I didn’t really notice Balcers in his season debut. I didn’t think he was good, but I certainly didn’t view him as a liability. He finished the night -1 in just over 13 minutes of ice.
The underlying numbers, though? He held the Panthers even in terms of five-on-five shot attempts, but was overwhelmed in terms of expected goal share. He and his linemates simply didn’t generate much for the Senators at even strength.
Thumbs Up: The Tank
With the loss, the Senators now sit 28th overall in the league standings. They are only one point up on 30th place, with the New Jersey Devils having a game in hand. The race to the bottom is just beginning.
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That aforementioned tank may get some assistance on Saturday night with the Tampa Bay Lightning coming to town. While they’ve struggled to gain traction throughout the season, the Bolts finally look as though they’ve turned a bit of a corner. They head into Saturday’s game having won five in a row. More impressive than that little win streak, however, is the way they’ve been playing:
They’ve rebounded from a slow-ish start to the year, and now are only hampered by weak goaltending from Andrei Vasilevskiy. If he can get on a bit of a hot streak, the Lightning will be as good as any team out there.
Ottawa’s plan to combat the dangerous Lightning is unclear at this stage, as Friday’s practice lines were missing Thomas Chabot and Anthony Duclair, who both took maintenance days. DJ Smith also announced Friday that the team had not yet decided on a starting goaltender for the Tampa matchup. One thing that fans might be able to expect, though, is Mike Reilly’s debut as an Ottawa Senator. Reilly was acquired in a deal earlier this week with the Montreal Canadiens.
Enjoy the game!
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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