The Lightning have officially begun the 2011-12 season with on-ice activities at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon, Florida. An estimated crowd of 1,400 was on hand to watch the team practice and then engage in a 60-minute scrimmage which Team Blue won by a score of 3-1.
Forward Mike Angelidis of Team White scored the first goal on an assist from Richard Petiot. Team Blue responded with goals from Richard Panik (on a penalty shot) and Ryan Shannon. Team White had a chance to tie but a penalty shot by Mattias Ritola was unsuccessful. Tom Pyatt added an empty net goal for Team Blue to finish the scoring.
Team Blue’s Mathieu Garon stopped all 12 shots he saw in his 30 minutes of action while his replacement Dwayne Roloson (on temporary loan from Team White) stopped 11 of 12. For Team White, Jaroslav Janus stopped 17 of 18 shots while Pat Nagle went 14 for 15.
Tomorrow, we’ll have a live thread, originating from the Ice Sports Forum, that will open around 9:30 AM with updates posted as they happen.
