Tommy Novak scored twice and Phil Tomasino and Joakim Kemell added goals but late scores by the Bolts give Tampa Bay the preseason win.
Tommy Novak scored twice and Phil Tomasino and Joakim Kemell added goals but late scores by the Bolts give Tampa Bay the preseason win.
The Nashville Predators traveled to Amelie Arena to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning for today's preseason game. The Predators and Lightning played Wednesday night at Bridgestone Arena where the Lightning won 2-1 in overtime.
The Predators and Lightning are each played many of their top players although both teams were without their number one goaltenders. The Predators rested Juuse Saros, and Andrei Vasilevskiy recently underwent surgery and is expected to miss the first two months of the regular season.
Andrew Brunette started a mostly seasoned roster but did adjust a few of the line combinations and defensive pairings for today's game.
Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, and Brayden Point returned to the lineup after sitting out Wednesday's game against the Predators at Bridgestone Arena.
The game pace was quick early in the first period. Offensive pressure by Tampa Bay tested goaltender Kevin Lankinen in the first half of the period, but Lankinen read the plays and covered the crease to make the necessary saves. Nashville answered back partway through the period with offensive zone pressure of their own. At 14:25, Yakov Trenin corralled the puck from the boards and found Joakim Kemell sneaking to the net. Kemell lifted the puck past goaltender Matt Tomkins to give Nashville a 1-0 lead.
Shortly after Kemell's goal, Tampa Bay earned an opportunity on the power play as Egor Afanasyev headed to the penalty box for a tripping call. The Lightning's best chance came on a slot shot from Brayden Point, but Lankinen made the save. Nashville killed off the penalty, and the teams returned to five a side.
Nashville got their first chance on the power play with less than a minute remaining in the period. The Predators' top unit pressured Tomkins, but the buzzer sounded with 1:09 left on the penalty. The teams headed off the ice with Nashville leading 10-9 in shots on goal and 1-0 on the scoreboard.
Nashville began the second period with the remainder of their power play, but it was Tampa Bay who got on the board as Brandon Hegel scored shorthanded at 19:26. The penalty expired, but as the teams returned to five a side a wild bounce off the boards landed the puck on Roman Josi's stick. He found Phil Tomasino in front of the net and Tomasino scored at 1:51 with a backhand shot.
At 2:26 Jeremy Lauzon headed to the box for hooking, but Nashville killed the penalty. A few minutes later, the Predators killed another two minute holding penalty called on Roman Josi. At 8:12 former Predator Austin Watson received a feed from Waltteri Merela and scored to tie the game back up.
At 9:50 in the second, Brunette switched goaltenders and Yaroslav Askarov took his place in net. Nashville earned another power play at 13:10 as Evangelista was tripped up. The Predators set up in the offensive zone but couldn't capitalize. Tommy Novak and Luke Evangelista connected to score a goal at full strength at 17:51. The period ended with Nashville leading by one.
Waltteri Merela scored a goal at 4:26 in the third period to tie the game once again. At 9:38 Kiefer Sherwood and Brandon Hegel dropped the gloves after a hit, and the two sat for five minutes each for fighting.
Tampa Bay scored two quick goals to get and build a lead midway through the final period. Nikita Kucherov scored a power play goal as Filip Forsberg served time for a crosscheck. Less than a minute later Merela stole the puck from Fedor Svechkov and scored at 13:53 to give the Lightning a two goal lead.
A late tripping call gave Nashville a power play at 15:25, and with 3:54 remaining in the game, Brunette pulled Askarov and sent Joakim Kemell out for an extra attacker. At 19:22, Tommy Novak cleaned up a rebound in front of the net to get Nashville within one. The Predators almost tied the game with seconds on the clock, but the puck bounced off the goalpost. The Tampa Bay Lightning won the game 5-3.