Ottawa Senators dominate Tampa Bay Lightning with 4-0 shutout -NHL Update
Teams are finally beginning to come back to reality and work towards a playoff spot, something which showed in Ottawa as the Senators dominated Tampa Bay Lightning with a 4-0 shutout on Tuesday night, February 14, 2012, at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa,
Florida.
Ottawa now comfortably at number seven in the Eastern Conference with 66 points, well ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are at number eight with 62 points along with fighting to keep the last postseason spot with ninth place Washington Capitals.
Tampa Bay was handed down their second straight loss coming out of a 4-2 defeat against Pittsburgh Penguins and now a complete shutout, something which has the Lightning team, who reached the Eastern Conference Finals last time around, frustrated.
"We just couldn't score again," Lightning coach, Guy Boucher, said. "We're playing Ken Dryden when we play Ottawa. Three games in a row we get wide open nets and wide open opportunities, and either he (Anderson) makes a save or we miss the net."
Ottawa certainly played consistently and showed some team chemistry as Erik Karlsson kicked off the scoring with his 10th of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season.
Jason Spezza followed with his first of the night on a power play opportunity with less than four minutes remaining in the second period and two more by the same player for a hat trick in the third period, securing the match for the visitors.
"I think we played a pretty consistent game from start to finish," Ottawa coach, Paul MacLean, said. "Craig Anderson played real well for us, and I thought our team handled the momentum shifts and responded real well. The Spezza line obviously the big line
in getting the goals."
Spezza picked up his fourth career hat trick and made it the first one in nearly two years, which was definitely an exciting moment for the veteran.
Ottawa will be looking to continue with their surging confidence as they face Florida Panthers on Wednesday while Tampa Bay Lightning will remain home to host San Jose Sharks a day later on Thursday.
Tags: