Usually before any game there is at least a certain level of optimism, but given the last month or (well now it is approaching 6 weeks) of less than inspiring play, the Senators pre-Christmas visit to the Sunshine State give an uneasy feeling of dread.
The first stop is the Amelie Arena, where the Senators look to be fodder for the league leading Lightning, who already have 50 points on the season, the top 2 scorers in the league and a league best goal differential of +42, 17 ahead of second place LA in that category.
To make matters worse, the Bolts are coming home from a 4 game road trip that saw them have a 7 game winning streak snapped by the upstart Vegas Golden Knights in their last outing, on Tuesday night. They have only lost back to back games once this season, and that was last month when they faced Washington and Pittsburgh on back to back nights.
At least the Senators haven't been inconsistent of late, but the problem is that they have been consistently bad. Other than the first half of the Wild game on Tuesday, the Senators haven't played at a level where you would say they dominated over any stretch of time since....well it has been so long I can't remember. So while that might offer a glimmer of hope or optimism, lets see a compete level for a full 60 minutes before we can declare the tease is over.
Despite Erik Karlsson and Mark Stone both having 2 point efforts against the Wild, Senators fans have been treated with a lot of one-off performances that get your hopes up only to be dashed almost as quickly. Bobby Ryan makes a great play and then all but disappears, ditto Matt Duchene, and Craig Anderson made a couple of brilliant saves to keep the Minnesota game at 3-1, but then can't track the puck or control a rebound to save his life and a 3-1 lead becomes a 6-3 deficit seemingly in the blink of an eye.
And that is just on the ice...off it is another story altogether and has to be a distraction as well. Not using that as an excuse, but you have to forgive a little bit of pessimism and not putting my money on the Sens to come away with much in this one.
Heck, Tampa has scored 36 goals in their last 8 games, and the Sens have allowed 33 goals in their last 9...if they keep Tampa below double digits, that is almost a moral victory.
Bah Humbug.
At least the World Juniors are starting soon.