Senators double up Tampa

Yeah, the Tampa Bay Lightning are going to play it loose this season and not press for regular season accolades.

Keep this up and the Lightning will find themselves scrambling for a spot in the post season.

On Saturday, Vladislav Namestnikov struck twice in a 4-2 win for the Senators in Ottawa over the Bolts.

“Never fear an opponent,” Namestnikov said. “You’ve got to go out and play your game, not think about who’s out there. I think that’s what we did today. We limited their chances and got rewarded.”

Craig Anderson made 19 saves for the win.

“We had a lot of guys play hard today,” Senators head coach D.J. Smith said after his first win. “Right from the get go, I thought we played hard. We played hard defensively, played hard in the [offensive] zone. We’re doing a better job trying to limit shots and we had a lot of guys really play hard, especially Pageau with the old Gordie Howe hat trick tonight. You don’t see that much anymore.”

Ondrej Palat and Luke Witkowski scored for Tampa Bay.

“I don’t think it was for lack of effort,” Tampa Bay defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. “It was really just disjointed and really not understanding the situations and momentum swings of the game. I think that’s something we need to learn as a team. We go out and get in our groove and feel confident, but when it’s not there, you’ve got to simplify and you’ve got to be really good in your support.”

Colin White and Jean-Gabriel Pageau also scored for the Senators.

“Our goalie coach came up to me right before the game and told me to [shoot glove side on McElhinney],” White said. “So I was thinking that the whole way down.”

[WATCH: All Lightning vs. Senators highlights]

Curtis McElhinney made 30 saves in the loss.

“We were driving the play against Toronto (7-3 win on Thursday), and today, Ottawa drove the play against us,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “It’s a little disappointing. It’s not up to our standards, that’s for sure.”