The Tampa Bay Lightning continue their homestand Saturday with a divisional matchup against the Ottawa Senators, as the race in the Atlantic Division tightens. Andrei Vasilevskiy is expected to get the start in net. The Detroit Red Wings’ 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday keeps the Lightning within two points of first place, currently held by Buffalo. [http://nhl.com/standings] On the other side, Ottawa comes in fighting to stay in the playoff picture. The Senators sit one point behind the New York Islanders with a game in hand after a shootout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. The Lightning are looking to bounce back after a 4-3 overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday. For the second straight game, they were slow out of the gate, despite controlling much of the play in regulation. “Once the emotion got up a little bit, I think that’s when we play our game,” Corey Perry said after Thursday’s game. “You could see that we started to take over the game a little bit more, and we had the puck a lot more. It's just part of our game and it's just what we have to be." A fast start will be key this afternoon, especially with a quick turnaround ahead. The Lightning are set to host the Nashville Predators tomorrow to close out their back-to-back.
