Game 3 Preview and Open Thread: Ottawa Senators vs Tampa Bay Lightning

Coming off an electrifying win over the Philadelphia Flyers in the home opener, the Sens will now play host to divisional rivals the Tampa Bay Lightning. Both teams are on the second half of a back-to-back, so Ottawa may actually have the scheduling advantage because they didn't have to travel.

We're used to seeing the Lightning as so much better than the Sens that they're not worth paying attention to when scoreboard watching, but that may not necessarily be the case this year. The team has looked vulnerable at times over the last year, and may end up dropping down to the wildcard race with Ottawa. These two points could end up being very important.

Game Notes

• Tampa Bay is coming off a loss to another divisional rival, in the Detroit Red Wings. Don't ask who scored most of Detroit's goals. It's not important.
• It sounds like Tampa actually got pretty thoroughly outplayed yesterday, but their possession numbers in their season opener against Nashville were quite good. They'll be looking to bounce back tonight.
• Still no update on Josh Norris, who was initially expected to make his debut this weekend but apparently still isn't ready.
• Since Anton Forsberg played yesterday, today Joonas Korpisalo will likely get a chance to redeem himself for last Wednesday's loss to Carolina.
• It's hard to get a good read of the Sens when the two games they've played have been against wildly different opponents. In game 1 they struggled defensively and got hemmed in their own zone a lot, whereas in game 2 they had possession but struggled at times to finish their chances. Tonight we get to see a more even matchup, that might give us a better idea of where the Sens are at.
• No morning skate today, as the team recovers from yesterday's game.

Where to watch/listen: TSN5, RDS2, NHLN or listen on TSN1200

Lines from last game

Ottawa Senators

Tampa Bay Lightning