Game 69 preview: Lightning @ Senators
Pressure has to be off now, right?
Well, after the last three games the playoffs are looking like a pipe dream. SportsClubStats puts the odds at 2.7%, and has a graph showing the decline in Ottawa's chances. Rather than post a dry, boring graph, I instead present a more artistic representation of how the playoff chances have dropped:
With Craig Anderson still injured, Robin Lehner starts again. Matt Kassian and Patrick Wiercioch will be the healthy scratches again. The only change comes with Andrew Hammond replacing Nathan Lawson as the backup. Here are the lines in order of Tuesday's EV TOI:
MacArthur - Turris - Ryan
Michalek - Spezza - Hemsky
Hoffman - Zibanejad - Condra
Greening - Smith - Neil
Methot - Karlsson
Cowen - Gryba
Phillips - Ceci
Lehner (starter)
Hammond
Some notes for tonight:
- Robin Lehner has continued his terrible stretch. With the pressure of the season likely gone, does he bounce back?
- This is the first time Lehner has started four games in a row in his NHL career
- It's been almost 2 weeks since Ottawa won a game
- Not much consolation, but Ottawa had 10 different players make the score sheet on Tuesday. Most games, that would be enough to indicate a win.
- The Lightning are in a fight with Montreal and (somewhat) Toronto for second in the Division
- Erik Karlsson is just barely outside of the top 5 in the league for assists. Can he make the leader board?
Here are some stats leaders for the two teams tonight.
Category | Ottawa | Tampa Bay | ||
Player | # | Player | # | |
Goals | Bobby Ryan | 23 | Valtteri Filppula | 22 |
Assists | Erik Karlsson | 45 | Victor Hedman | 32 |
Points | Erik Karlsson | 62 | Valtteri Filppula | 51 |
Shots | Erik Karlsson | 216 | Alex Killorn | 149 |
Average Ice time | Erik Karlsson | 27:16 | Victor Hedman | 22:24 |
Category | Ottawa | Tampa Bay | ||
# | Rank | # | Rank | |
Goals For | 2.81 | 12th | 2.86 | 8th |
Goals Against | 3.28 | 29th | 2.55 | 12th |
Corsi Close % | 51.9% | 9th | 51.8% | 10th |
Fenwick Close % | 50.7% | 14th | 51.9% | 10th |
Shots For | 32.7 | 4th | 29.7 | 18th |
Shots Against | 34.5 | 28th | 29.3 | 13th |
Paul MacLean had some things to say after the morning skate: