Tampa Bay Lightning Preseason Game 1: Preds Complete Comeback In OT

3. 151. 2. 23. Final

The Tampa Bay Lightning fell to the Nashville Predators in overtime tonight by the score of 3-2. It was the first preseason game for the Tampa Bay Lightning as the team took the ice in front of an energized Amalie Arena crowd. Though the team got off to a good start, costly mistakes and a surge by the Preds led to a OT loss.

The Lightning dominated the first 20 minutes of play. From the opening draw, the Bolts had full control of the puck and created opportunities in the offensive zone. Though there was no scoring, the team was able to control the pace of play and not give up many grade a chances in their own zone.

The Bolts got on the board first in the second period when forward Erik Condra put in a Mike Angelidis rebound to put the Lightning ahead 1-0. Along with scoring first, the team once again controlled the pace of play, but the Preds started to get their legs and had some chances on goaltender Ray Emery. We’ll get into his performance in a second.

The third period started well for the Lightning as Jonathan Drouin took a fantastic pass from Alex Killorn and slipped the puck between the legs of Predators goaltender Carter Hutton. That put the Bolts up 2-0 and it seemed like the team would be able to cruise to an opening night preseason victory. Well, that is not what happened.

The Predators, who had started to gain their legs in the second period, started to control play after the Drouin goal in the third. Cody Bass scoring the team’s opening goal against Lightning goaltender Adam Wilcox to cut the deficit in half. Later, Viktor Arvidsson took a Kevin Fiala pass and whistled a shot past the outstretched Wilcox, who had no chance to make a save as Arvidsson was left alone in the slot.

The game went to a 3-on-3 overtime where both team’s traded scoring chances early. A Steven Stamkos tripping call sent the good guys to the penalty kill where Mattias Ekholm took a Filip Forsberg pass and put the puck past Wilcox who again had zero chance to make the save.

Some bright spots for the Lightning include goaltender Ray Emery, forward Brayden Point, and defenseman Dylan Blujus. Emery stopped all 10 shots he faced before being pulled for Wilcox halfway into the second period. He was sharp early, and even though he didn’t have to make any acrobatic saves, he stopped the pucks that he needed to and kept the puck moving when he had the chance to play it.

Brayden Point was all over the ice again tonight. The 19-year-old center carried over his fantastic play from the Estero prospects tournament and really was a spark for the Lightning offense. He was a pest on the forecheck, crisp passer, and fantastic in the defensive zone. He also controlled the faceoff dot all night, which allowed his line to keep the puck on the offensive zone for long periods of time.

To me, Dylan Blujus was my number one start of the night for the Tampa Bay Lightning. On a night where a majority of the Tampa Bay Lightning defense was not playing well, Blujus really shined as he showed great poise, patients, and positioning as he was able to cover for his partners mistakes. He used his stick really well tonight and also was able to take the body of defenders that tried to use their speed to get around him.

Blujus was also a force in the offensive zone as he rocketed a shot off the cross bar that would have put the Bolts ahead 2-0 late in the second period.

On the other side of the coin, some of the players that did not have a good showing were defenseman Anthony DeAngelo and defenseman Matt Carle. These two blueliners struggled with turnovers and positioning all night as the Predators continued to gain momentum whenever they were on the ice.

For DeAngelo, he seemed to play tentatively during the first period. He wasn’t playing his game and was making unorthodox plays that we aren’t used to seeing from him. It seemed like he was thinking about playing it safe, which caused him to make sloppy passes and turnovers that led to quality chances for the Predators.

Carle, like DeAngelo, made way too many turnovers tonight. The Predators first goal came when these two were paired together and a blown assignment caused Cody Bass to be left alone in front. Carle has taken heat in the past from fans about his poor play, but hopefully this is not what we see on a nightly basis from the veteran blue liner.

Your Tampa Bay Lightning (0-0-1) will once again take the ice against the Nashville Predators (2-0-1) at Bridgestone Arena Wednesday night. Once again, the game will not be televised or streamed, so make sure you turn on your radio and listen to Dave Mishkin on the play-by-bay.

Next: Mailbag: The Tampa Bay Lightning's Identity

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