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Ryan McDonagh of the Tampa Bay Lightning tangles with Claude Giroux of the Ottawa Senators.Getty Images
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After taking a step back Tuesday, the Ottawa Senators need to shrug it off.
A 4-3 setback at the hands in Tampa was just one loss and, while another important player, Shane Pinto, left the game with an injury, the Senators aren’t panicking — they can’t afford to.
The Senators didn’t have to move while they prepared for Thursday’s game which, in a quirk of scheduling, is again in Tampa. It’s back-to-back games against the Lightning.
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Looking to bounce back, the Senators took Wednesday off with no practice scheduled.
But when they get back to work Thursday, there’s plenty at stake.
With the win Tuesday, the Lightning are within two points of the Senators in the tight Eastern Conference standings, plus they have two games in hand.
It’s not only the Lightning that the Senators have to worry about as they look to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since the 2016-17 NHL season. There are four teams, down to the 10th-place Columbus Blue Jackets, within three points of the Senators.
One of those teams is the steaming-hot Detroit Red Wings, who won their seventh straight game Tuesday, 5-4 over the Seattle Kraken in a shootout.
While the New York Islanders are five points behind the Senators, they’re also red-hot, winning eight of their past 10 games, the latest 2-1 over Vegas on Tuesday.
Reaching the playoffs is far from being a lock for the Senators, who were very good in the absence of starting goalie Linus Ullmark, who returned to start Tuesday’s game following a 44-day absence.
With 28 games left, the Senators will need to get more than a point a game to have any shot at finishing somewhere in the top eight of the Eastern Conference.
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With a 7-3 record in its past 10 games, Ottawa will need to be sharper Thursday against the Lightning.
“These are a big two games, we’re going to have to be better,” Senators coach Travis Green told TSN 1200’s Gord Wilson in the moments following Tuesday’s defeat. “Tampa pushed pretty hard early in their building.”
“We were pretty excited for this game, it’s a team that’s close to us in the standings,” said Senators winger Claude Giroux, who scored his 11th goal of the season on Tuesday. “It’s always exciting to go into buildings that are tough to win in. The execution wasn’t as good as we wanted. Thursday is going to be another fun one.”
Getting off to a better start and gaining early momentum would sure help.
Tuesday, the Senators were outshot 14-8 in the opening period, but hung in thanks to Ullmark’s steadiness. Ottawa actually scored the only goal of the period with Michael Amadio finding the net. If not for Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilenskiy, Ottawa — with several good scoring opportunities — may have pulled out the win.
“Early on, our execution wasn’t great, the puck was bouncing, it wasn’t as snappy and tape-to-tape as it looked the prior stretch of games,” said defenceman Nick Jensen, who returned after a five-game absence due to an undisclosed injury. “We have a good chance to respond Thursday.
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“We’re going to have to have a really good start. (Tuesday’s) start obviously wasn’t good enough. It’s hard playing back-to-back games. It’s going to be important to set the tone right away; hopefully that will build us into a complete, 60-minute game.”
The Senators, already without Josh Norris for what could be an extended period of time, lost Pinto on Tuesday. The versatile centre left in the first period, looking like his arm or shoulder was in discomfort.
If Pinto is going to be out for any period of time, the Senators will have to recall another forward from Belleville, their American Hockey League farm club. Centre Stephen Halliday might get the call.
After Tuesday’s game, Green said he had no update on the status of Pinto. But he talked about the value of the 6-foot-3 forward who draws a lot of tough matchups to try and neutralize some of the opponent’s top players.
“Losing a guy like Pints, it’s a big loss,” Green said. “He does a lot of things for our team. He’s a big matchup guy; (the Lightning has) got a lot of good players and he’s a big part of playing against them.”
Following Thursday’s game, the Senators travel to the other side of Florida with a game against the Panthers in Sunrise on Saturday.
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Then, it’s an extended break with the 4 Nations Face-Off featuring all-star teams from Canada, the U.S., Sweden and Finland competing from Feb. 12-20 in Boston and Montreal.
The Senators won’t play again until Feb. 22 — a home game against the Montreal Canadiens. The time off should give Norris and Pinto time to heal and provide a boost for the Senators.
Look for trade talks to heat up in the coming weeks as well, as teams look to add in advance of the March 7 NHL trade deadline.