After 20 minutes, it looked like the Tampa Bay Lightning were going to cruise to an easy victory on opening night as they absolutely dominated the Nashville Predators. Things evened out as the night continued and the Lightning needed four goals to overcome an early 2-1 deficit in the final period. Nick Paul scored twice, Nikita Kucherov scored twice, and Brandon Hagel converted on a penalty shot to send the crowd home happy with a 5-3 win. Jonas Johansson was solid in his Tampa Bay debut, stopping 28 of 31 shots.
It was all Lightning to begin the game as they didn’t allow a shot on goal for the first seven minutes of the game with Nashville rarely able to enter the offensive zone with the puck. Constant pressure on goaltender Juuse Saros finally yielded a goal as Nikita Kucherov one-timed a pass from Victor Hedman into the back of the net.
After posting an 85.1% xGF at 5v5 in the first period, things went in a slightly different direction in the second as the Predators used back-to-back power plays to turn the tide of the action. While they wouldn’t score with the extra skater, shortly after the visitors converted on a rare odd-man rush with Ryan O’Reilly tapping home a centering feed from Filip Forsburg to tie the game.
After having to make only two stops in the first period, Johansson was much busier in the middle frame, facing 13 shots from the Predators. He was able to turn 12 of them aside and the middle frame ended tied at one goal a piece.
It wouldn’t stay tied long as the Predators scored 11 seconds into the third period. The Bolts won the opening face-off, but Nick Perbix stumbled as he tried to pass the puck to his defensive partner. Both Victor Hedman and Steven Stamkos failed to clear the puck and Forsberg ended up making a nice feed to Jusso Parssinen who beat Johansson through the five-hole.
That sparked a bit of chaos in the scoring column. Nick Paul scored his first of the night two minutes later as he dug the puck out from underneath a pile on the power play and slid it past a prone Saros. Thirty seconds later, Brandon Hagel was awarded a penalty shot as he was fouled on a good chance in front of the net. Hagel converted, sliding a snapshot past Saros’ blocker.
Nashville didn’t go away and Tommy Novak tied things up as he caught Johansson leaning off his post and snuck one in on the short side. That lead lasted only two minutes as, once again on the power play, the Bolts found the back of the net. It was Paul in front of the net again, this time using his long reach to corral the puck and sweep it into the net with just over nine minutes to play in the game.
Tampa was able to shut down the Predators, allowing just two shots over the next six minutes. Even with the goaltender pulled, the pressure was kept to the outside and Johansson made a key save on Roman Josi with 95 seconds left after the Lightning had been caught on the ice for over a minute. The young netminder was able to freeze the puck to allow his teammates a much needed line change.
Kucherov eventually sealed the game with his second goal of the game as he slid in an empty netter with just over a second to play in the game.
The Bolts power play was 2-for-5 (and a penalty shot) while they killed off 3-of-4 penalties. Brayden Point ended up with 3 assists while Mikhail Sergachev had two helpers. Tampa Bay is off until Saturday when they kick off a three-game road trip against the Detroit Red Wings.
Starting Lines
Goals
Nikita Kucherov (Victor Hedman, Brayden Point) 1-0 Lightning
Ryan O’Reilly (Filip Forsberg, Ryan McDonagh) 1-1
Jusso Parssinen (Filip Forsberg, Ryan O’Reilly) 2-1 Predators
Nick Paul (Brayden Point, Steven Stamkos ) Power Play 2-2
Brandon Hagel – Penalty Shot 3-2 Lightning
Tommy Novak (Philip Tomasino, Gus Nyquist) 3-3
Nick Paul (Mikhail Sergachev, Brayden Point) Power Play 4-3 Lightning
