The Ottawa Senators pay a visit to the Tampa Bay Lightning, and coach Dave Cameron has become a lightning rod of sorts in the last couple of days.
Much was made about the perceived slight of sniper Mike Hoffman who saw limited duty in the third period after being demoted from the top line to the third line. The fact is, the strategy ended up working and if Hoffman felt slighted, as his body language might suggest, he needs to shake it off and play where he is told.
Line juggling takes place on a game to game basis and a coach sometimes needs to push the right buttons. And it isn't going to work every time, and Hoffman responded with the game winner. I don't see the problem, and if the in-game change in Florida is a factor in whether or not Hoffman re-signs in Ottawa then that is a Hoffman issue. Cameron's job is to do what it takes to win, and if he saw a matchup that he didn't like or one that he could exploit, he needs to do that to exploit it. Hoffman can be frustrated, but as long as he performs when asked things will work out in the end.
They now have to turn the page and focus their attention on the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Bolts are well rested and have had three days off since completing their 3 game California road trip with a 2-1 record.
There were no lineup changes expected coming out of yesterday's skate, with Mark Borowiecki still playing forward and Shane Prince the extra skater.
The Senators will not be facing old friend Erik Condra, who signed in Tampa in the off-season but left Saturday night's game in San Jose and missed Sunday's loss to the Kings with a lower body injury and is expected to miss a week.
If it wasn't already, there is an increased distraction in Tampa this week after Steven Stamkos liked a tweet from TSN asking whether or not the Leafs should pursue the Toronto native before or when (if) he gets to free agency. That will really come to a head when the Lightning visit Toronto next week, but until something happens on that front the Stamkos contract status will be a big distraction whether they like it or not.
The Lightning were expected to compete for a division title if not a conference championship and that doesn't look like it is going to happen, even though there is still lots of hockey left to be played. The supposed high-powered offense has been flaccid, with their goals per game ranking them 26th in the NHL.
Stamkos leads the Lightning with just 20 points, and the "Triplets", the line of Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov hasn't been nearly as effective as it was last year, although Palat has missed the last 12 games and is questionable to return against Ottawa, and Johnson also missed some time.
There has been no problem with the Lightning defensively, as the Lightning are giving up just 2.25 goals per game and Ben Bishop has a 2.00 GAA.
Tampa trails Ottawa by 6 points in the standings, and a regulation win would be like a 4 point game and would increase the gap to 8, which is better than the 4 it would be if Tampa comes out with the W. Pretty obvious, but a very significant difference as Ottawa heads into Montreal on Saturday night, and these are the types of games, like Tuesday in Florida, that Ottawa needs to win to keep the separation.
Whatever buttons need to be pushed.