The Tampa Bay Lightning lost to the St. Louis Blues 4-3 Wednesday night in preseason action, the team’s first game on Florida ice since defeating the Boston Bruins in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals in May at the St. Pete Times Forum. Ostensibly a home game for the Lightning, it took place at the Amway Center in Orlando, home of the NBA’s Orlando Magic.
A crowd of 11,688 turned out to see the Lightning tie the game three different times but ultimately fall short in the second meeting in as many nights between the two teams. The Blues defeated the Lightning 3-1 in St. Louis on Tuesday. This was the first NHL game played at the facility, which opened in October of 2010 replacing the old Amway Arena.
The Lightning got goals from Marc-Andre Bergeron, Cory Conacher and Eric Brewer, all on the power play. Each tied the score at the time but St. Louis responded quickly each time, eventually sealing the win on a goal from Adam Cracknell with 2:20 remaining in the game.
NOTES: Mattias Ohlund racked up 17 penalty minutes, all in the first period, including a five-minute major and a game misconduct call for elbowing…As was the case in St. Louis the night before, a video tribute and a moment of silence was observed in honor of those from “the hockey family” lost over the summer…head coach Guy Boucher was impressed by the Amway Center: “I knew it was new but I’ve been in a lot of new buildings that aren’t as nice as this one. Everything is first class.”…Dwayne Roloson started in goal, his first game action of the preseason. He stopped eight of the nine shots he faced.
