Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning to face off on Tuesday – NHL Preview
Misery continues for both Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning with the fears of the former losing its safe zone and affect its playoff chances.
As with Tampa Bay, the current form cannot lead the team into the safe zone from where it can qualify for the postseason.
Hoping to find many answers, both the teams are going to face each other in a National Hockey League (NHL) game on Tuesday, February 14, 2012, at Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa, Florida.
Ottawa is ranked at seventh spot in the Eastern Conference with 64 points after 58 games.
Out of its last nine games, Ottawa has lost eight. Senators went down to lose seven games in a row before winning a game, which was followed by another loss.
This leaves no room in predicting that the current form will eventually eliminate Senators from the playoff contention.
The recent loss came against Edmonton Oilers.
In that game, Ottawa got a lead in the first period, but Oilers hit back in the second to level the score.
The Senators got ahead one more time, but Oilers once again neutralised the lead. The Oilers then took the lead, which was settled by Senators in the final period of the regulation to send the game to overtime.
The Oilers scored a goal just a few seconds into the overtime to seal the victory.
Senators’ defenseman, Erik Karlsson, said about the team’s recent run:
"We haven't been playing really good lately. It feels like we're on the right track, though. We've got to move forward and play better as a team for 60 minutes."
Tampa Bay has also been suffering the same fate as Senators’, though their losing streak is not as lengthy as Ottawa’s.
Tampa Bay is placed on 12th spot in the Eastern Conference after 55 games with 54 points.
The team ended the last month on a five-game winning streak, but has lost four out of six games this month.
The recent loss came against Pittsburgh Penguins in which Lightning scored two goals early in the first period, but Penguins hit back scoring four goals to decide the game.
"We had the best record in the NHL in the last 10 games, but we certainly didn't look like that today," Tampa Bay coach, Guy Boucher, said after the game.
Despite being in the safe zone, Senators cannot be rated as favourites for this game.
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