Tonight: Lightning at Senators

WHEN/WHERE: 7; Corel Centre, Ottawa, Ontario.

TV/RADIO: Sunshine; WDAE-AM 620.

THE LOWDOWN: With their 3-2 overtime win over Dallas on Thursday night, the Senators lead the Eastern Conference, four points ahead of New Jersey, and the Northeast Division by 11 over Toronto. ... Ottawa newcomer F Vaclav Varada, from Buffalo, has seven goals, four assists and 23 penalty minutes in 44 games. ... Senators RWs Daniel Alfredsson and Marian Hossa are 14th and 15th in NHL scoring with 65 and 63 points respectively; Lightning C Vinny Prospal is 19th with 60. ... Tampa Bay D Dan Boyle, with 48 points on 11 goals and 37 assists, is third in scoring by defensemen. ... Ottawa D Zdeno Chara is out (bruised chest); RW Martin Havlat returns after missing four games (groin); Lightning D Jassen Cullimore (left shoulder surgery) is out; RW Ruslan Fedotenko (broken finger) is day to day. ... Lightning RW AndreRoy, Ds Stan Neckar and Darren Rumble, and Prospal are ex-Senators. ... Ottawa has scored 32 more goals than the Lightning and has allowed 31 fewer. ... Senators G Patrick Lalime's 2.09 goals-against average is fifth in the league. ... Ottawa is 7-3 in its past 10 games and 2-2 in its past four, all at home. Tampa Bay is 5-2-3. ... This is the teams' fourth and final matchup this season. Ottawa is 2-1 and won 7-0 Jan. 14 in its other home game. The Senators lead the all-time series 24-15-2, including 15-6 at home. Tampa Bay is 8-14-7-2 on the road this season; Ottawa is 23-6-2-1 at home.

-- Compiled by Bruce Lowitt.