NHL, midway through the regular season. Two teams meet and the game they are currently playing is as different as night and day. Ottawa Senators are 14th in the Eastern Conference and have lost 7 of their last 10 games. The Tampa Bay Lightning, meanwhile, are in 8th place, but this does not reflect the true strength of the team. The Lightning have won 5 games in a row and are looking impressive lately.
The analysis of this match should focus on how these teams have been looking lately, rather than on the season's statistics. Tampa Bay's start to the season has been much worse than expected and this has spoiled the overall statistics, which are quite misleading. The Ottawa Senators have lost 3 of their last 5 games at home and have lost even to relatively weaker teams like the Devils or Sabres. One of the reasons for the Senators' poor play is the very long list of injured players. Zaitsev, Ryan, Nillson, Hainsey, DaMelo, Callahan, Gaborik - all of them have been injured for a long time and it is a big loss for the team. As for the Lightning, the team seems to have finally found its game and is showing the kind of results it should be showing. They have won 5 games in a row and all of them in regulation time. The team looks good on the road as well, with the only loss coming against the Capitals. The Tampa Bay Lightning camp is almost injury free at the moment, with only one injury to Rutta, so the strongest line-up will be allowed to play. The H2H of the teams is quite favourable for Tampa Bay, which has won 5 of its last 8 road games.
So, in the NHL, the Tampa Bay Lightning are currently a much better team than the Ottawa Senators. We predict that the visitors will get another win and continue their climb to the top of the Eastern Conference. Good luck!
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