The Tampa Bay Lightning (1-0-0) beat the Nashville Predators (0-1-1) 5-3 on Tuesday night in front of a sold out crowd at Amalie Arena. By selling out the home opener, the Lightning have now sold out 330 consecutive home games.
Nikita Kucherov scored the first goal of the NHL season at the 9:48 mark of the first period. The Predators tied the game in the second period before taking a 2-1 lead eleven seconds into the third period thanks to a goal from Juuso Parssinen.
Nick Paul scored his first goal on the power at the 2:25 mark of the third period to tie the game 2-2. Forty-two seconds later, Brandon Hagel gave the Bolts a 3-2 lead.
The Predators would rally to tie the game again in the third period when Tommy Novak scored on the power play at the 8:48 mark. However, Nick Paul answered with his second power play goal at the 10:52 mark, which would prove to be the game-winning goal. Nikita Kucherov added a goal with two seconds left in the third to make it a 5-3 final score.
Jonas Johansson got the start in net, his first of the 2023 season in place of the injured Andrei Vasilevskiy, who is expected to miss the first two months of the season. Johansson saved 28 of the 31 shots he faced to pick up the victory in net.
The Lightning now go on the road for the next three games which begins in Detroit on Saturday night. Puck drop between the Lightning and Red Wings is scheduled for 7:00 PM on Saturday evening.
PHOTO COURTESY GETTY IMAGES