{"id":475456,"date":"2025-10-09T08:18:04","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T12:18:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=475456"},"modified":"2025-10-09T07:42:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T11:42:54","slug":"nhl-predictions-atlantic-division-rivalry-tampa-bay-lightning-ottawa-senators-2025-26-seasons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/10\/09\/nhl-predictions-atlantic-division-rivalry-tampa-bay-lightning-ottawa-senators-2025-26-seasons\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Ottawa Senators"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back for another season of\u00a0NHL Predictions<\/a>. Each day, our writers here at Last Word on Hockey<\/em> look at the games and give in-depth analysis. Our team breaks down the key matchups, storylines, and stats, then makes predictions based on how they might play out. For this edition, we will look at the Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a> taking on the Ottawa Senators<\/a>.\u00a0Don\u2019t forget to check out more NHL Predictions, as our writers continue this series throughout the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions<\/h2>\n

2024-25 Season Series: 2-2<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n

Time: 7:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n

TV: TSN5, ESPN+ \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Location: Amalie Arena\u00a0<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t just any game, it\u2019s a weather-themed showdown, Lightning versus Senators. One brings thunder and scoring depth, while the other brings a promising young core. Let\u2019s dive into this crackling season opener with some analysis, predictions, and prop bet spice.<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Lightning Outlook<\/b><\/h3>\n

Last season ended in a disappointing first-round exit, and you can bet head coach Jon Cooper\u2019s squad is out to prove the window isn\u2019t closed. Rather, it\u2019s just been greased with Flex Tape<\/em>. With core veterans Nikita Kucherov<\/a>, Brayden Point<\/a>, and Victor Hedman<\/a> all returning, the Bolts look to strike early and often. Andrei Vasilevskiy<\/a> is back between the pipes after an offseason of resting, recharging, and probably bench pressing VCRs. If he\u2019s in form, Tampa is dangerous against anyone. Especially a young team still figuring out how to defend in transition.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions Key to Victory:<\/b><\/b><\/h3>\n

The key is to control the pace. Tampa has the skill and experience to dictate play, but if they let Ottawa\u2019s youth get into a rhythm, it could be a track meet.<\/p>\n

Ottawa Senators Outlook<\/b><\/h3>\n

The Sens are still in their rebuild-to-relevance arc, but this year could finally be a step forward instead of a hopeful wobble. Tim St\u00fctzle<\/a>, Brady Tkachuk<\/a>, and Jake Sanderson<\/a> headline a talented roster that\u2019s ready to make some noise, and maybe stop blowing third-period leads.<\/p>\n

Off-season additions aimed at stabilizing the blueline should help. However, goaltending remains the big question mark in some sense. Can Linus Ullmark<\/a> handle the heavy workload as a clear number one goalie for an entire NHL season? Also, will Leevi Merilainen<\/a> provide stability as an NHL backup. Even if he is at the young age of 23, in goaltending terms. If not, perhaps\u00a0Mads S\u00f8gaard<\/a> will see sometime in the NHL, after recently clearing waivers to join the AHL’s Belleville Senators.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions Key \u00a0to Victory:<\/b><\/h3>\n

They need it fast and loose. The Lightning are veterans, but they\u2019re not the quickest team anymore. If Ottawa leans into youth, speed, and chaos, they might just catch Tampa off guard. Also, maybe don\u2019t take penalties? Tampa\u2019s power play still gives goalies night sweats.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Who Takes the Season Opener?<\/b><\/h3>\n

Tampa Bay has too much firepower and too much experience to drop the puck on their season with a loss, especially to a team still ironing out the wrinkles in their system. But Ottawa\u2019s young core is no joke, and they\u2019ll keep this one interesting.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Lightning win 5-3<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

Look for Tampa to jump out early, weather a Senators push, and seal the deal with a third-period dagger from Point. Bonus points if Anthony Cirelli<\/a> scores a shorthanded goal and smiles like someone just told him he doesn\u2019t have to do postgame interviews.<\/p>\n

Prop Bets of the Night<\/b><\/h3>\n

Let\u2019s make this opener even more exciting (and possibly profitable?) with a few spicy props:<\/p>\n

Nikita Kucherov<\/a> Anytime Goal (+155)<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

Kuch starts hot almost every year, and if there\u2019s a defensive lapse, he\u2019ll pounce like a Florida man on a gas station burrito.<\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/b><\/h3>\n

NHL Predictions thinks opening night is always unpredictable, but this one feels like Tampa Bay\u2019s to lose. The Bolts will want to make a statement early in the year, and Ottawa, while promising, is still building toward consistency.<\/p>\n

Expect some fireworks, a few scrums, a Kucherov no-look pass that makes SportsCenter, and maybe even a power outage if Amalie Arena can\u2019t handle all this Lightning.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned all season long for more NHL Predictions, and remember: hockey is back, baby.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back for another season of\u00a0NHL Predictions. Each day, our writers here at Last Word on Hockey look at the games and give in-depth analysis. Our team breaks down the key matchups, storylines, and stats, then makes predictions based on how they might play out. For this edition, we will look at the Tampa Bay […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5453,"featured_media":466671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,4547,4548,8,4524],"tags":[6109,6391],"class_list":["post-475456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lightning","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-senators","category-nhl-predictions","tag-ottawa-senators-predictions","tag-tampa-bay-lightning-predictions"],"modified_by":"Levi Pike, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5453"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475456"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":475475,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475456\/revisions\/475475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}