The red-hot Senators will be looking to win their sixth-straight game tonight, a feat which they have accomplished once already this season (Dec. 11-21, 2024). Tonight’s game will be the second of two back-to-back following last night’s 5-2 victory over the Nashville Predators.
Adam Gaudette, Ridly Greig, Jake Sanderson, Shane Pinto all scored for the Senators. David Perron scored as well, marking his first goal as a Senator. With an assist on Gaudette’s goal, Tim Stützle picked up his 300th career point. In net, Anton Forsberg stopped 25 shots for a .926% save percentage.
Tonight will be the second of four meetings between the Senators and Lightning this season. Their first game came back on October 19, when the Senators won by a score of 5-4. Two Senators had three-point outings: Drake Batherson (two goals, one assist) and Jake Sanderson (three assists), while Noah Gregor, Josh Norris and Brady Tkachuk all scored for the Senators as well.
The Senators will be facing off against a streaky Lightning team tonight, who are 4-5-1 in their last 10. Most recently, they fell to the New York Islanders by a score of 3-2 in overtime on Saturday.
Following Anton Forsberg’s start in net against Nashville last night, Sens fans can likely expect Linus Ullmark to make his return to the crease for the first time since December 22. In 23 games this season, the Swedish goaltender has a 12-7-2 record paired with a 2.38 goals against average and a .915% save percentage. Ullmark played a key role in the Senators’ previous six-game winning streak earlier this season, which earned him the NHL’s third star of the week for the week of December 15.
The Lightning are not a team to be underestimated, and with two games against them this week, there are four huge points on the line for the Senators as they continue their hunt to secure a playoff spot.
