A nearly perfect performance from the Tampa Bay Lightning resulted in a convincing victory on Thursday night. For the second time in two nights, the Bolts took care of business against a Western Conference foe. Unlike on Wednesday against the Blues, however, the Lightning were not forced to rally from an early deficit.

Thanks in part to two goals from Brett Connolly, the Lightning jumped out to a 4-0 lead after only two periods of play. The former sixth overall draft pick opened the scoring just over five minutes into the first when he took a Victor Hedman feed and converted on a backhand move. Ondrej Palat, another youngster fighting for a roster spot, doubled the Lightning’s lead just over a minute later.

Steven Stamkos extended the Lightning lead to three just over six minutes into the second frame when he grabbed a pass from Ryan Malone and sent the puck past Carter Hutton. Stamkos’ first of the preseason highlighted the chemistry he shares with Malone. As Malone looks to rebound from a disastrous 2013 campaign, it is imperative that he creates opportunities and make things happen. He did that tonight.

The Bolts would add one more goal before the end of the second frame. Minutes after Cedrick Desjardins took over from Riku Helenius in the Lightning net, Brett Connolly scored his second tally of the game. While Hutton would certainly love the goal back, it’s hard to fault Connolly for simply putting the puck on net. If Connolly can continue to play just like he has through the first week of camp, there’s a good chance that he makes the Lightning’s opening night roster.

Matt Cullen got the Predators on the board just 46 seconds into the third period after Ced Desjardins made a horrible giveaway. Cullen’s unassisted marker spoiled the Lightning’s shutout bid, but it wasn’t enough to give the Predators life. Richard Panik put an end to any Predators comeback attempt when he scored only seconds after Cullen; Nikita Kucherov and Matt Taormina were credited with assists.

While Brett Connolly will certainly (and deservedly) dominate the headlines, it should be noted that a number of Lightning players had really solid nights. Victor Hedman, in particular, was very good at both ends of the ice. In addition to logging over 23 minutes of ice time, he notched two assists.

As said in the pregame blog, tonight’s contest gave Lightning fans an opportunity to gaze into the future. The message to take away from this evening is that the future is bright.

As always, thanks for reading.

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