Panthers at Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning made it to the Stanley Cup final in 2015 before losing in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals twice in the last three seasons, and begin another quest to finish the job Saturday night against the visiting Florida Panthers. The Lightning did not lose anyone of significance from a league-leading offense and are keyed by Vezina Trophy finalist Andrei Vasilevskiy, along with Norris Trophy winner Victor Hedman, on the back end.
“You can’t think, ‘Well, this is our year, it’s our turn to win'," captain Steven Stamkos told the Tampa Bay Times. “It couldn’t be further from the truth. It gets harder. The expectations make it harder. … There’s not much we haven’t dealt with. It’s time to do it.” Nikita Kucherov had six of his team-best 100 points in four games - three wins - last season against the Panthers, who added sharp-shooter Mike Hoffman and veteran forward Troy Brouwer to an already-potent offense. Newly anointed captain Aleksander Barkov had a goal and seven assists against the Lightning a season ago and leads the way for Florida, which missed the playoffs by one point despite a strong finish to the season in which it went 25-8-2 - including 5-0-0 in the last five. “It was good for our confidence at the end of the year,” Panthers coach Bob Boughner told the Sun Sentinel. “I think our guys realized when we trusted each other, trusted the system, we had some success. But it’s a brand new year. Everyone around us got better.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Florida, FS Sun (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (2017-18: 44-30-8): Florida did not make any major changes on defense, simply expecting a little better from a group that gave up the third-most shots on goal per game (34.6) and finished tied for 18th in goals-against. Veteran Roberto Luongo returns in net along with James Reimer while Keith Yandle (56 points in 2017-18) and Aaron Ekblad (16 goals) key the blueline. Vincent Trocheck (75 points), Jonathan Huberdeau (69) and Evgenii Dadonov (65) join Barkov (78) on a young and productive forward corps and Hoffman arrives from Ottawa after scoring at least 22 goals in four straight seasons.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (2017-18: 54-23-5): Kucherov (39 goals, 100 points), Stamkos (27, 86), Brayden Point (32, 66) and Hedman (17, 63) all contributed to a Tampa Bay team that scored 3.54 per contest in 2017-18. Tyler Johnson (shoulder) is questionable for the season opener while fellow forward Ryan Callahan (shoulder) is ahead of schedule, but is not expected back in the lineup until November. There are no changes on defense for Lightning, although they get former New York Ranger Ryan McDonagh for a full season in the top four while talented Russian Mikhail Sergachev is poised to improve off his 40-point rookie campaign.
OVERTIME
1. Florida F Nick Bjugstad had 27 points in the final 35 games last season after registering 22 in the first 47, and scored four goals versus the Lightning.
2. Tampa Bay RW Mathieu Joseph, who led Syracuse of the American Hockey League in scoring last season, is expected to make his NHL debut Saturday.
3. Both teams play only twice in the first 10 days of the season as the Lightning host Vancouver on Thursday and Florida welcomes Columbus the same night.