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Stamkos Shines as Lightning Defeat Panthers in a Shootout |
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It took more than 65 minutes, but the Tampa Bay Lightning did eventually manage to defeat the Florida Panthers on Friday night. Three points from Steven Stamkos and a shootout winner from Jonathan Drouin were enough to push the Lightning’s preseason record to a stunning 4-0-0.
Led by a top line that featured Stamkos, Martin St. Louis, and Ryan Malone, the Lightning came out of the gate flying. In front of the hometown crowd, the Bolts created opportunities and jumped out to 2-0 lead before the initial frame was over.
Ryan Malone notched the first tally of the game when he converted on a wrap-around opportunity just over three minutes in. Stamkos and Victor Hedman were credited with helpers. Minutes later, with two Panthers in the penalty box, Martin St. Louis slapped the puck past Jacob Markstrom to give the Bolts the aforementioned two goal lead. Teddy Purcell and Stamkos assisted on St. Louis’ marker.
Just as the Lightning did against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night, the Florida Panthers battled back last night. Midway through the second period, Erik Gudbranson sent a wrist shot past Ben Bishop to pull his team within one. Before the end of the middle frame, J.T. Brown and Dmitry Kulikov traded goals to give the Lightning a 3-2 lead before the second buzzer rang.
However, the lead wouldn't last as Bobby Butler tied the game at three only four minutes into the third period when he knocked a rebound past Bishop. His first of two in the final stanza gave the Panthers a huge injection of life after they failed to convert on a number of opportunities late in the second period.
Steven Stamkos gave the Lightning a 4-3 lead midway through the last period, but it wasn’t enough to win the contest. Bobby Butler’s second of the game, scored with only 58 seconds left, tied things up and forced extra time. Overtime solved nothing and so the Panthers and Lightning went to a shootout. Five shooters were stopped before Jonathan Drouin finally managed to beat Markstrom to win the game for the Lightning.
It’s worth noting that Jonathan Drouin had a relatively quiet game until Jon Cooper sent him out in the shootout. He had a rough night in the faceoff circle and failed to create much in the way of offense with his line-mates. Still, it seems as though the team will continue to give him opportunities through the rest of the preseason and perhaps into the regular season. Hopefully he manages to build off his success in the shootout and gives the coaching staff no choice but to dress him on opening night. There isn’t a person in Bolts Nation who doesn’t want the young man to succeed.
Friday's performance wasn't a perfect one. In fact, it was far from a perfect performance. Regardless, the Lightning managed to squeak out yet another win. Ben Bishop wasn’t overly solid through 60 minutes, but he stood tall when the team needed him most. Good teams manufacture wins out of ugly situations; that’s exactly what the Lightning did last night.
After four games in four nights, the Lightning finally have some time off. The team’s next contest will take place on Tuesday night in Nashville.
As always, thanks for reading.
UPDATE: The Lightning announced that “forwards Vladislav Namestnikov, Cedric Paquette, Philippe Paradis and Geoff Walker were assigned to the Syracuse Crunch (AHL) following [last night]’s game against the Florida Panthers at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.”
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