Three things to watch for as Tampa Bay Lightning host Ottawa

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
February 1, 2017

TAMPA, Fla. – Tampa Bay looks to rebound from a difficult loss in the last game as the get set to host the Ottawa Senators tonight (7:30 p.m., Fox Sports Sun, 970-AM and tblpowerplay.com at Amalie Arena.

Tampa Bay can’t afford to suffer any sort of a losing/winless streak as the Lightning start the game sitting in 14th place in the Eastern Conference and has just one win in the past six games (1-3-2) and is without a victory in the past two games, both of then against Atlantic Division teams. Tonight’s game against Ottawa ends a stretch of three consecutive games against division team before beginning a run of eight consecutive games against Western Conference opponents.

Here are three things to watch for tonight as the Lightning return to action.

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1 – The return of Guy Boucher: For the first time since he was relieved of his coaching duties by Tampa Bay toward the end of the 2013 lock out season, Guy Boucher returns to Amalie Arena now as the head coach of the Ottawa Senators.

Boucher spent two-plus years coaching Bern in Switzerland before returning to the NHL this season when he was hired to take over the Senators. While in Tampa, he led the Lightning to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals and set the expectation level high for the franchise (and himself) in his first year. His time with the franchise will not be forgotten and he should receive a warm welcome back to town.

“It was such a positive experience here for me and coming back is great,” said Boucher, who was in the building one other time since his departure, attending a playoff game in 2015 when he was in town to sell his house.

2 – Goaltender rotation: With team deep down the standings, it’s imperative that one of the two goaltenders – Ben Bishop or Andrei Vasilevskiy – seize control of the net and get on a run to try to help the team to get on a run.

Tonight it will be Vasilevskiy, who will make his third start in the past four games. The 22-year-old netminder has allowed two or fewer goals in each of his past four starts, despite just having a 1-2-1 record in those four games. He was terrific in his past two starts – a win in Chicago and overtime loss at Florida – and another strong start could propel him to getting a bulk of the starts.

3 – Swedish mafia: There have been plenty of comparisons made between Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman and Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson, despite the fact they play different games.

But both came up through the Swedish program and both are elite defensmen in the league. They were also teammates at the World Cup of Hockey earlier this season, so there are a lot of connections.

Karlsson is smaller in stature but is one of the top offensive defensemen to ever play the game, a fantastic puck handler who is dangerous walking the blue line in the offensive zone and capable of controlling the game with the puck on his stick. He’s a problem for other teams to contain and can make even the best look foolish. Karlsson, the 15th overall selection in 2008, has won the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman twice (2012 and 2015).

Hedman plays a more controlled two-way game capable of controlling the game at both ends of the rink. At 6-foot-6, Hedman can match Karlsson’s skating ability and move exceptionally well for a mad of his size. Hedman has just started to emerge on the scene as a Norris-caliber defenseman and ranks among the league leaders with points by a defenseman with 41, tied with Karlsson for second behind Brent Burns.

Pregame notes: The team held an optional morning skate, with just a handful of players on the ice. … LW Michael Bournival took part in the skate wearing a red no-contact jersey, the first time he’s skated with the team since missing last weeks game at Florida with an upper-body injury. … G Mike Condon is scheduled to make his 17th consecutive start for Ottawa and his 26th consecutive appearance.
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