Much like Thursday’s tilt between these two teams, there wasn’t much hockey played. With 312 penalty minutes between the two teams, all they could really work on was their special teams. To their credit the Lightning, who were the aggressor most of the night, killed off 13 power plays. Florida still managed to score six times with an extra skater in their 7-0 victory. It was just that kind of night.
Tampa Bay drops its final preseason matchup at Florida. Listen back to the full highlights and subscribe to our YouTube. @davemishkin.bsky.social had the game call for 312 PIM combined and much more as heard on 102.5 The Bone. youtu.be/L71Qsma97FU
— Lightning Audio Network (@boltsradio.bsky.social) October 4, 2025 at 11:03 PM
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After the Lightning announced six call-ups prior to the game it was obvious that the game would head in this direction. Things started early when one of those call-ups, forward Scott Sabourin, hit Aaron Ekblad along the boards and then started pummeling the Panthers’ defenseman. Continued retribution for the hit on Brandon Hagel last season or setting a tone for the game? Take your pick.
Sabourin was the first of 14 players that would have their night ended early by misconduct penalties, leading coach Jon Cooper to quip that the Lightning had “more coaches than players” on the bench at one point. Only four Lightning players escaped without having a penalty called against them while 10 players had at least 10 minutes of penalties. Dylan Duke led the way with 31 PIM in just 10:38 of playing time (for the record his infractions were a roughing, roughing, fighting, misconduct, holding, and another misconduct).
Things were so out of hand that the teams and on-ice officials missed that Niko Mikkola was assessed a game misconduct four minutes into the third period and he was on the ice for what was initially the eighth Florida goal before everyone realized he was ineligible.
The majority of the starting line-up didn’t even suit up for the game, but Andrei Vasilevskiy was in net for the first 40 minutes. He stopped 20 of 26 shots with five of the goals allowed coming on Panthers’ power plays. Pheonix Copley came on for the third period and made 11 saves on 12 shots.
The hope is that both teams have gotten this out of their system, and when they meet in November in the regular season, the action on the ice resembles an actual hockey game. Last night’s contest was the result of two organizations that have a history of not liking each other and a way too long pre-season. The good news is that next year’s pre-season will be much shorter.
With all of the nonsense behind (except for the possible fines) the Lightning can now focus on the important things – the season opener against Ottawa on Thursday. Outside of all the fights over the last two games, there were a lot of positive things to pull from the Bolts’ 6-1 record. The power play looked more coherent, they got scoring from up and down the line-up, and they allowed two or fewer goals in five of the seven games.
Expect all of the players that were recalled to be re-assigned to Syracuse today. Also, keep an eye on the waiver wire as teams have to put their players on it in order to clear by 2:00 PM tomorrow. Final rosters have to be in the league by 5:00 PM on Monday.
