The future of the Tampa Bay Lightning took to the ice against the future of the Nashville Predators on Friday in the first game of the 2023 Southeast Rookie Showcase and it was the Bolts that skated away with the win down at Hertz Arena. Nashville was credited with the first two goals, but Tampa Bay scored four straight with Declan Carlile, Waltteri Merela, Joe Carroll, and Shawn Element providing the offense. Hugo Alnefelt picked up the win in net.
While the players on the ice aren’t likely to make the Lightning at the beginning of the season, it was obvious from the drop of the puck that they were eager to impress Syracuse Crunch Joel Bouchard, who was behind the bench for the Lightning. For a collection of players that hadn’t had all of that much practice time together they looked pretty cohesive, especially in the defensive zone where they limited second chance opportunities and helped Alnefelt keep his crease clear.
For me, the most impressive player was Maxim Groshev. The 21-year-old forward was a disrupter all afternoon long as he was constantly breaking up plays and picking off passes in the neutral zone. That led to quite a few offensive opportunities for him throughout the game. If he keeps playing with that energy he will not only earn a spot on the Crunch, but be one of their top forwards.
Ethan Gauthier got his first taste of NHL-esque competition, and after a bit of a tentative start in the first period, played pretty well. He was able to get to the front of the net on a couple of occasions for good looks at the net. Speaking of players that improved as the game went along, Shawn Element was probably the best player on the ice for the Lightning in the second half of the game. He’s looking to earn a permanent role on the Crunch as well after injuries limited him a bit last season. Merela was useful all night long as well and could be a nice little find for the organization.
Lucas Edmonds had a couple of turnovers early in the game when he let his creativity get the best of him, but he really can handle the puck quite well. Ilya Usau opened up some eyes with a pretty heavy slapshot that led to a goal.
Nice redirection from Merela to get the game tied at two on the power play. pic.twitter.com/C3KmB6zAmi
— Chris Krenn (@Chris_Krenn) September 15, 2023
As for Alnefelt. I thought that he was a little overaggressive early in the game and was overplaying some of the Nashville opportunities. There were also a couple of shots that ate him up and he couldn’t cover, but as the game went on he defiantly looked more comfortable in net and made a couple of really nice stops. The only goal he’d probably like to have back was the second one when Joakim Kemell beat him with a wrister from the top of the circles.
The third period was Alnefelt’s best and he punctuated it with a nifty glove save:
Alnefelt keeps the #Bolts lead at two. https://t.co/sfG041XxgR pic.twitter.com/bNryZ9qUMv
— Chris Krenn (@Chris_Krenn) September 15, 2023
They’ll be back on the ice today at 3:00 PM when they take on the Carolina Hurricanes.
Lightning / NHL News
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