The 1st game of the preseason is never going to be a Picasso masterpiece. That certainly was the case for the Tampa Bay Lightning Tuesday night at Amalie Arena. Penalties occurred for both the Bolts and the Carolina Hurricanes early and often. It seemed as if the teams spent more time on the power play or penalty kill than they did at even strength. When that happens the team that has the better special teams will take the contest. Carolina was better at both the power play and penalty kill in the 2-1 victory. The loss wasn’t without positives for the Bolts. Adam Erne scored the 1st preseason goal for Tampa Bay and draft picks Cal Foote and Alexander Volkov both got their fair share of ice time.
The Bolts looked like they would have a chance to strike first when they got a power play opportunity just over 2 minutes into the game. Tampa Bay shot themselves in the foot and picked up 2 penalties of their own in the next 90 seconds to put their backs against the wall. Carolina would take advantage as Justin Williams put the Canes on the board early. Tampa Bay had chances to tie it up late in the period with 2 power play opportunities, but the Canes’ penalty kill held strong to keep their advantage heading into the 2nd period.
The Lightning found themselves on the penalty kill early for the 2nd straight period. Carolina’s power play came through yet again. This time it was Teuvo Taravainen who got it past Michael Leighton. The Bolts failure to cash in on their own power play chances came up again minutes later when the Carolina penalty kill came out on top after Brenden Kichton got called for slashing. The Bolts found themselves back on the penalty kill almost immediately after when Andrej Sustr was called for high sticking. After the Bolts killed that penalty, Boris Katchouk had the best scoring chance of the game. He fired a shot at the Carolina net, but Alex Nedeljkovic was able to send it away with his pad. The Bolts did finally get on the board after getting a 5-on3 chance for just over a minute. Carolina thwarted for that minute, but Adam Erne wouldn’t let Tampa Bay leave empty handed. His power play goal cut the lead in half with less than 5 minutes remaining in the period.
The Lightning started the final period with about a minute left in a power play. The Bolts didn’t score on that power play chance, but immediately got another one when Victor Rask was called for tripping. The Lightning was again couldn’t get past the penalty kill of Carolina as the Canes held onto their lead for the time being. Tampa Bay even got a 3rd chance just over 5 minutes into the period, but the power play was cut short thanks to a slashing call on Taylor Raddysh. Volkov looked like he tied the game with around 2 minutes to go, but due to contact around the net, the refs called the goal off.
The Bolts won’t get any break and return to the ice tomorrow night. Tampa Bay will head to Carolina for a rematch against the Hurricanes. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7 pm and you can hear all the action just up the dial on News Radio 970 WFLA.
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST PERIOD
1. CAR - PPG - Williams - (Carrick, Teravainen) - 3:46
2ND PERIOD
1. CAR - PPG - Teravainen - (Rask, Carrick) - 4:03
2. TBL - PPG - Erne - (Peca, Conacher) - 15:37
3RD PERIOD
1. TBL - Killorn - (Koekkoek, Namestnikov) - 13:28
2. TBL - Callahan - (Point, Johnson) - 13:40
PENALTY SUMMARY
1ST PERIOD
1. CAR - Samuelsson - (Slashing) - 2:04
2. TBL - Katchouk - (Slashing) - 3:16
3. TBL - Peca - (Holding) - 3:37
4. CAR - Samuelsson - (Slashing) - 12:07
5. CAR - Foegele - (Delay of Game) - 14:04
6. TBL - Walcott - (Slashing) - 16:45
7. CAR - Rask - (Slashing) - 18:05
2ND PERIOD
1. TBL - Volkov - (Slashing) - 3:27
2. CAR - Kichton - (Slashing) - 7:19
3. TBL - Sustr - (High Sticking) - 10:15
4. CAR - Gauthier - (Hooking) - 13:29
5. CAR - Jooris - (Tripping) 14:24
6. TBL - Paquette - (Interference) - 15:58
7. CAR - Chelios - (Tripping) - 19:04
3RD PERIOD
1. CAR - Rask - (Tripping) - 1:31
2. CAR - Dahlbeck - (Tripping) - 5:32
3. TBL - Raddysh - (Slashing) - 6:21
4. TBL - Peca - (Slashing) - 8:37
SHOTS ON GOAL
Tampa Bay - 26
Carolina - 22