Insider: Instant Reaction Ottawa 4, Lightning 0
This one stings.
In a game the Tampa Bay Lightning had to have Tuesday night against the Ottawa Senators, the Lightning were no match for Craig Anderson and the Senators, losing 4-0. The loss was especially painful considering Ottawa was probably the one team the Lightning had a chance to catch considering the Lightning had three games in hand against Ottawa going into play on Tuesday night. For Ottawa, the difference on this night was Craig Anderson, and the inability to come up with secondary chances.
“We just couldn’t score again,” head coach Guy Boucher said. “We’re playing against Ken Dryden when we play Ottawa. Three games in a row we get wide open nets and wide open opportunities and either he makes a save or we miss the net. We had more scoring opportunities against them than we had in the last two games. It’s been a problem for us, scoring against them.”
The Good: Ryan Malone. In the sense that in his first game back, he got through it generally unscathed with over 19 minutes of ice time, that is good news for a team that really needs to get healthy.
The Bad: The inability to score goals. As has been the case for much of the season, the Lightning’s inability to score goals came back to haunt them in the biggest game they had all season. The Lightning had the chance to put a big number on the scoreboard but every time they came close to scoring, one of two things would happen. They would either miss the net or Craig Anderson would come up with a tremendous save. It is nothing new for this Lightning team, a squad that has had issues turning on the red light all season.
The Bad Start. When Erik Karlsson scored the Senators first goal on the first shot of the game, it kind of felt like a tone was set for the night and the Lightning were never able to really over come that. Bad starts have been a problem for the Lightning all season long and tonight it was just one that really seemed to put them back on their heels.
News and Notes: Bettman pays a visit. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was in town on Tuesday night, and spent a couple of minutes addressing the media at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. Among the things that were discussed, no CBA talks have begun yet, and the fact that the mayor of Tampa, Bob Buckhorn requested an All Star game for the city of Tampa.
“The Mayor over dinner put in a request for an all star game,” Bettman said. “That’s something we will be happy to look at. I don’t have a time frame for it. There are lots of clubs that want the all star game, and there are lots of clubs that want it that have not had it yet, but that’s something that I can see coming back here at some point, absolutely.”
Tags: Tampa Bay Lightning
