Friday night looked a lot more like regular season action than the 1st 2 preseason games for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Nikita Kucherov all made their preseason debuts. All 4 made big impacts on the game as the Bolts defeated the Nashville Predators, 3-0.
The Bolts got the scoring going almost immediately. “Taking Care Of Business” blared over the Amalie Arena speakers just 33 seconds in when Victor Hedman got the scoring going. Late in the period the Bolts doubled their lead on a power play. This time it was Nikita Kucherov that put the puck in the back of the net. Stamkos assisted on both 1st period goals in his 1st game action since November of 2016. Vasilevskiy was also stellar in his 1st action of the preseason. Nashville had 6 power play opportunities in the 1st 2 periods, but Vasy and the rest of the penalty kill thwarted the Predators every time. One of the youngsters for the Bolts got in on the action early in the 3rd. Last year’s late season hero, Yanni Gourde, made it a 3-0 game less than 4 minutes into the final frame. Austin Watson finally got the defending Western Conference Champions on the board in the final half of the period, but the Lightning still held on to the victory, 3-1.
The Lightning will have a day off on Saturday before getting right back on the ice on Sunday. The Bolts will face the Florida Panthers at Amalie Arena. The puck is scheduled to drop at 4 pm with pregame coverage beginning 30 minutes prior on News Radio 970 WFLA.