Well, they can’t all be bangers I guess. After a nice string of wins in the preseason, the Tampa Bay Lightning laid an egg on Thursday night against the Florida Panthers in a listless 6-3 loss. It is the preseason, and it’s been a long one, so there is no need to read too much into the defeat, but the Bolts just didn’t look great on the ice. They were a mess in the defensive zone and allowed the Panthers to fire 52 shots on net. It’s not often a goaltender gives up five goals but is one of the best players on the team, but that was the case as Matt Tomkins stopped 46 shots, with way too many coming from prime scoring areas as Lightning defenders constantly lost track of the Panthers they were supposed to be defending.
Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov, and Steven Stamkos all recorded their first goals of the preseason, so that was nice.
“Tonight we took a step back,” Coach Cooper told the media after the game. He also acknowledged that the team “took some shifts off” throughout the night. As usual, he didn’t seem too concerned and intimated that the team maybe was looking ahead to the regular season after a long training camp.
The Bolts have one more preseason game on Saturday, against the Panthers yet again. There is a good chance that what we see on that night in terms of the line-up will be what we see on Opening Night.
Lightning / NHL News
Overage Gage clocks in at #2 on the Top 25 Under 25 [Raw Charge]
He has impressed in the AHL and this could be the year we see him wearing the Lightning bolt on his chest.
Bally Sports to broadcast 71 Lightning games [Bally Sports]
Despite the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings for Bally’s parent company, Diamond Sports Group, they will go ahead and broadcast the majority of the Lightning’s games this season. By all indications, the Tampa market is one of their stronger markets so it makes sense that they don’t want to give it up just yet (unlike in Arizona).
Joining the broadcast team will be an old friend:
Going from steak to chicken fingers [The Athletic]
Playing in the AHL is pretty tough. Returning to play in the AHL after getting a taste of the NHL is even tougher. The Athletic talks to some players about what that experience was like.
Former NFL linebacker becomes majority owner of the Allen Americans [Allen Americans]
Myles Jack and his mother, LaSonjia, made history as the first majority Black owners of an ECHL team as the league’s Board of Governors approved the sale to the Jack’s.
Flames’ new stadium approved [The Score]
The team will be sticking around Calgary for at least 35 more years and will break ground on a new stadium next year. The new arena will be part of $1.2 billion entertainment district and should open by 2026 or 2027.
Ducks, Drysdale agree to contract [Sportsnet]
A few days after signing restricted free agent Trevor Zegras, the Anaheim Ducks took care of their other remaining young star without a contract as they agreed to a new, three-year, $6.9 million contract with defenseman Jamie Drysdale. That leaves Ottawa’s Shane Pinto as the last remaining impact RFA without a deal.
