Tampa Bay Lightning Preseason Game 5: Pens Take Victory In Johnstown

The Tampa Bay Lightning took on the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Kraft Hockeyville game in Johnstown, Pennsylvania Tuesday night. Before the game, we saw what the game of hockey means to the residents of Johnstown.

Being the first ever Kraft Hockeyville winners, the Cambria County War Memorial, the same place where a majority of the movie SlapShot was filmed, received money for arena renovations and the game between the Eastern Conference Champion Tampa Bay Lightning and of course the hometown team Pittsburgh Penguins.

The first period began with a quick goal from the Penguins as a sloppy turnover from the Lightning top line allowed Penguins forward Sergei Plotnikov to slide the puck past Lightning goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis. The Lightning were able to get on the board when Brian Boyle took an Erik Condra past and made a nifty backhand shot over Penguins goaltender Matt Murray to tie the game. However, that lead did not last long as Erik Cole took a shot from the left circle and lifted the puck past the glove of Gudlevskis to give the lead back to the Pens.

The second period didn’t see much improvement in play. However, Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin made a sick move in the offensive zone to get around the Penguins defense and put the puck past Murray. Drouin has looked really good this preseason and there is a chance that a Drouin-Stamkos combination could be scary here soon. Evgeni Malkin put the Penguins out in front once again, this time after scoring on new goaltending acquisition Kevin Poulin. The Pens added another, this time while shorthanded, as Adam Clendening shot the puck from behind the net and off the chest pad of Poulin to give the Pens a two goal lead.

There was no scoring in the third period as the Penguins started to tighten up things defensively and give the Lightning little room to work in the offensive zone. The only time the Lightning had a real scoring chance was during their time on the man advantage, and even then they could not put the puck past Matt Murray.

Standout players in tonight’s game include Jonathan Drouin and Brian Boyle. We talked about how Drouin made a nice stick handling move to get around the Pittsburgh defense and score a really nice goal, but his energy around the ice tonight impressed me more than anything. He was playing a complete 200-foot game, which is something Drouin was lacking last season and the reason why he ended up in the press box serving popcorn.

Brian Boyle was a beast tonight in all three zones. Whether he was on the wing, center, or defense (yes, defense) Boyle played hard and was one of the better players on the ice tonight for the Lightning. Other then scoring a nice backhanded goal to put the Lightning on the board, he was also forced to play defense when Victor Hedman did not come back on the bench for the third period. We won’t speculate what happened to the Swedish defender, but we hope that it is nothing serious.

The Lightning will be back on home ice Thursday night to take on the Dallas Stars, a team that looks to compete in the Western Conference. The Star’s high powered offense will be a test for the Lightning defense as they look to get some last minute preparation in before the start of the regular season.

Next: Stamkos and Drouin The Next Big Dynamic Duo?

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