The Tampa Bay Lightning did something on Wednesday night that good teams do; they never gave up. After allowing the St. Louis Blues to run out and grab a 3-0 lead, the Bolts battled back and snatched a 4-3 shootout victory at the Amway Center in Orlando, FL.

Even though it wasn’t a classically pretty performance from the Lightning, head coach Jon Cooper has to be happy with his group’s resiliency and drive to win. Considering Wednesday’s tilt was just a routine preseason matchup, it would have been very easy for Lightning players to simply give up after two periods and call it a night. As the scoreboard clearly shows, they didn’t do that.

Dmitrij Jaskin, a 2011 second round pick, got the Blues’ scoring parade started with a goal midway through the first and another early in the second. As an outsider, this blogger was very impressed by his unique blend of size and skill. Standing at 6’2” and just about 200 pounds, Jaskin is almost a mirror image of Lightning forward Richard Panik. The Blues would add to their two goal lead when Jaden Schwartz scored later in the second period.

It wasn’t until the dying moments of that second period that the Lightning got on the scoreboard. Adam Erne, who certainly made his presence known all night long, tallied a powerplay marker with just over one minute remaining in the frame. Mark Barberio and newcomer Valtteri Filppula helped out with assists on Erne’s first of the preseason.

Just as Jaskin scored two goals for the Blues, Erne notched two for the Lightning. His second of the night, scored just over one minute into the third period, was another powerplay marker. Cedric Paquette and J.T. Brown were credited with assists.

Midway through the third period, Tom Pyatt tied the game at three. That was all the Lightning would need in order to send the game into extra time and eventually a shootout. After Teddy Purcell and Ty Rattie traded misses to open the shootout, Valtteri Filppula scored to give the Lightning the advantage. Chris Stewart followed up with another miss leaving the door open for Adam Erne to be a hero. He made no mistake.

It’s hard to argue that Erne wasn’t the Lightning’s player of the game. Since being drafted 33rd overall by the team back in June of this year, he has done nothing but impress. With two regulation time goals and the shootout winner last night, Erne definitely 'earned' himself some more playing time with the big club. The only black spot for the young forward on an otherwise perfect night came when he knocked Vladimir Sobotka out of the game with a headshot that could (and should, in the minds of many) result in supplemental discipline.

As mentioned, Wednesday’s performance wasn’t always pretty. No self-respecting National Hockey League club wants to be outshot 11-2 in a single period on a regular basis. That being said, the effort level put forth by some of the Lightning players was something to behold. They never gave up. They fought back and won the game. That sort of attitude and drive can be the difference between missing the playoffs and making the playoffs. As a Lightning fan, I can only hope that it carries over into the regular season.

As always, thanks for reading.

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