Charle-Edouard D’Astous has a strong idea of what he and his Tampa Bay Lightning teammates need the rest of the season.
The defenseman said using emotion and playing with more physicality are the answers for the Lightning, who will conclude a back-to-back set on Sunday with a game against the visiting Nashville Predators.
Tampa Bay (45-21-6, 96 points) overcame two quick goals to the surging Ottawa Senators on Saturday afternoon in a 4-2 victory.
The win, however, largely was due to the play of D’Astous and Emil Lilleberg, depth players on an injury-ravaged defensive corps.
“Just play with emotion, be physical. I think when we do those things (that) it’s going our way and like we showed tonight,” said D’Astous, who collected one goal and one assist on Saturday. He has two and five, respectively, in his past eight outings.
Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel scored his 34th goal of the season, one off matching his career-high mark he set in 2024-25.
Lilleberg provided the game-winning goal on a four-man rush for the Lightning, who are 5-0-2 in their last seven games and are in second place in the Atlantic Division.
It was Lilleberg’s first goal since Nov. 15 and third overall to help Tampa Bay improve to 12-1-1 in the front end of back-to-backs.
However, the Lightning bring a 6-5-2 mark in the second half of that scenario into Sunday’s game with the Predators (34-30-9, 77 points), who hold the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
At home Saturday night against the Montreal Canadiens, Nashville succumbed to a quick attack by the visitors in a 4-1 loss.
“They outplayed us tonight,” center Ryan O’Reilly said after his team’s second loss following five straight victories. “Against their top line, we lost that matchup. We didn’t do enough against them defensively. … It’s disappointing.
“I want to shake this one off and get on to the next. It’s kind of nice it’s back-to-back. We have to shift the focus right now and start preparing for the Lightning. It’s going to be a very tough test for us.”
Since Dec. 9, the Predators are 24-16-5 and are in the postseason hunt.
Of course, any matchup between Tampa Bay and Nashville eventually leads to future Hall of Famer Steven Stamkos.
During a spectacular 16-year career with the Lightning, the 36-year-old Stamkos produced 555 goals and 582 assists for a franchise-record 1,137 points — 22 more than Nikita Kucherov, who was ill and missed Saturday’s win.
In his lone game in Tampa as a visitor on Oct. 28, 2024, Stamkos had two assists in the Predators’ 3-2 overtime loss.
The only assist on the winning marker went to Jake Guentzel, whom the Lightning acquired for their top forward line to replace Stamkos.
That move occurred after Tampa Bay declined to sign its captain, who won two Stanley Cups and two Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophies in 16 seasons.
After a 27-goal first campaign in Nashville, Stamkos has 36 tallies in 73 games.
