For the second time in 10 days, the Senators visited Tampa Bay and came out on the losing end.
Although the game was certainly there for the taking, the Senators were hampered by an incredibly shrinking roster that had players playing out of position and more ice time than usually accustomed to.
Early on it was the highly questionable major penalty assessed to Mark Borowiecki, which resulted in 3 goals- a shorthanded marker from Zack Smith followed by 2 power play goals from Nikita Nesterov Steven Stamkos that quickly erased Ottawa's 1st opening frame lead in weeks. It was certainly an interference call, as Brian Boyle had overskated the puck, but there was nothing particularly dirty about the hit and didn't deserve 5 and a game. Boyle was injured on the play because he hit the ice awkwardly, not as a direct result of contact from the bruising Senators defenseman.
Tampa took a 3-1 lead early in the second on a controversial goalmouth scramble that resulted in Andrew Hammond getting shoved into the net before the puck was slid in. Understandably Dave Cameron challenged the play and the call was upheld. While TSN didn't have the goal-line replay angle that the Tampa broadcast had, it was Chris Wideman's stick that actually pushed Hammond, so arguably the call was the right one, begrudgingly, even though I didn't necessarily agree with the continued presence of the Lightning player in the crease at the same time.
Already without Browiecki, the blue line took another hit when Cody Ceci left the game with an upper body injury and then the forward ranks was struck when Bobby Ryan aggravated his finger injury and left.
Erik Karlsson's blast set up by Mike Hoffman brought the Sens within 1 entering the third, but as has happened so often the Senators couldn't find a way to beat Ben Bishop. They managed just 7 shots on goal in the third, worn down from the extra ice time the 4 remaining blueliners had to endure, and although they had a couple of quality chances, couldn't find the equalizer before Tampa scored a couple of empty netters to make it a 5-2 final.
Karlsson played almost 37 minutes and Patrick Wiercioch was over the 30 minute mark. Somehow Marc Methot was just barely over 20 minutes, but with Ottawa spending 10 minutes on the power play that is understandable.
Hammond suffered consecutive regulation losses for the first time in his career, but he could hardly be blamed for any of the 3 goals he allowed. He never saw Nesterov's shot though traffic, Stamkos was wide open on a nice back-door feed and then there was the goal that might not have been on the goalmouth scramble.
This loss combined with the Panthers, Red Wings and Bruins all winning really makes the Atlantic Division a race. Six points separates 1st place Montreal and 6th place Tampa, with Ottawa now occupying the 2nd Wildcard spot just 2 points ahead of the Lightning.
That makes Tuesday's final game before Christmas against the Panthers very important, as Florida moved a point up on the Senators. After occupying a playoff spot almost since the first day of the season, with a loss and a Tampa win against Vancouver, they could be on the outside looking in for the duration of the break.
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Congratulations to Thomas Chabot, who survived the final roster cut down and has made Team Canada for the World Juniors. Fellow 2015 first round pick Colin White is on the 24 man USA roster that has traveled to Finland for the tournament with 1 forward still to be released.