Successful homecomings a hallmark for Tampa Bay this season

Historically, the first game back at home following a lengthy road trip can be a difficult one for a NHL team to manage.
Missing the comforts of home for an extended time, fatigue from the road and air travel jet lag all combine to counteract the home-ice advantage teams typically enjoy, making that first game back on home ice a more-difficult-than-expected proposition.
But the Tampa Bay Lightning have bucked the trend so far this season.

The Lightning have gotten points from all six contests in their first game back at home following a road trip, skating to a spectacular 5-0-1 record. They'll get another chance to prove their homecoming mettle when they return to AMALIE Arena tonight to take on Atlantic Division rival Ottawa (7:30 p.m. puck drop).
The Bolts completed a four-game road trip in Vegas on Tuesday, going 3-1-0 but missing out on a chance to sweep after giving up a power-play goal, one of four on the night, with 2.3 seconds left in Vegas in a 4-3 loss.
"You've just got to hope we're a little bit rested," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. "I thought we had a good skate in the morning, but it's tough. The travel wears on you. And this is not just us. Every team goes through this at different times. But you look at games that set up for you in different ways, this is one you're like, okay, history says these are tough ones for you. But we have had the ability to come back in these games and play pretty well. Hopefully we can do it tonight."
Tonight's challenge could be a bit more difficult for the Lightning. For starters, the recently-completed road trip was their longest of the season at 10 days. Two of those contests came against, at the time, the top team in the Western Conference in St. Louis and Vegas.
Also, the Lightning were without two starters in Tyler Johnson and Jake Dotchin two nights ago in Vegas because of a flu bug that hit the Bolts locker room. A couple other players were feeling ill as well but were able to play through it.
Cooper said everybody should be available for tonight's game, but there could still be some fatigue issues for players battling the bug.
"That was a tough one for us," Cooper said. "(Johnson and Dotchin) weren't the only two. Guys were fighting through it. But it looks like hopefully that's all passed, so we should be in good shape."
Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said "it was amazing to see" the amount of Lightning fans at T-Mobile Arena for Tampa Bay's first ever meeting with the expansion Vegas franchise. And that serves as motivation too in these homecoming games following long road trips: the Bolts want to repay their fans for supporting them no matter where they play.
No better way to thank them than by playing well in front of them at home.
"We owe it to them to put our best effort forward," Hedman said. "They support us all around the country it feels like, especially in Vegas…We owe it to our organization to put on a great effort. Obviously, we're facing a team that is desperate, but we can't afford to have any letdowns. We can't afford to start the game slow or not play hard for 60 minutes. It's just not acceptable. For us, it's about executing the game plan and playing to our structure for 60 minutes because we've shown in the past when we do that we're a tough team to play against, a tough team to beat. That's what I expect us to do tonight."
Ottawa comes into tonight's matchup on a downward spiral having lost 13 of their last 16 games, going 3-11-2 over that stretch. A once promising start to the season for a Senators team coming off an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals has nose-dived into one in which the Senators are just trying to claw their way back into the playoff chase.
The Senators are currently ranked 29th of 31 NHL teams.
But the Lightning expect to face a desperate team, one that can turn its season around with a victory over the top team in the NHL.
"To be honest, I'm not even worried about Ottawa," Cooper said. "I'm more worried about our team. To fly three time zones after you've been on the road for 10 days and have to play the next night is tough. We're really just kind of concentrating on how we're going to be, straightening out our game because when we look back at the tape of the Vegas game, I know we lost with two seconds left, but Vasilevskiy made some big saves for us to probably keep it where it was. We were a little listless. We played a little tired at the end. The boys gamed it out, but, in the end, we didn't get the two points and that's what makes tonight really important."
HEALTH UPDATE: Tyler Johnson and Jake Dotchin participated in the Lightning's morning skate on Thursday, and all indications are both will be available for the Ottawa game. Every other Tampa Bay player, other than the injured Ryan Callahan, also skated Thursday morning, meaning anybody else who might have been suffering from the flu appears ready to go tonight.