Lightning at Panthers
Captain Aleksander Barkov and his linemates look to rebound from a scoreless night when the Florida Panthers open their home schedule Saturday night by closing out a back-to-back with the rival Tampa Bay Lightning. Barkov, who registered a career-high 96 points last season, did not have a shot on net in Thursday’s 5-2 loss at Tampa Bay while linemates Jonathan Huberdeau and Evgenii Dadonov failed to post a point despite 10 combined shots.
The Panthers, who have missed the playoffs three straight years, allowed the final three goals of the game after tying it in the third period as Barkov told reporters: “This is not a good feeling. We had the game in our hands. We played really well but we just couldn’t win and we need to learn how to win.” The Lightning struggled with turnovers through most of the first two periods Thursday, but reigning Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy held them in it and his teammates finished with a 13-9 advantage in shots over the final 20 minutes to win for the seventh straight time against their Sunshine State rival. The relatively new forward line of Ondrej Palat, Anthony Cirelli and Alex Killorn finished with four points and were matched against the Barkov trio most of the night. “They did a great job, because those are three special players,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper told reporters. “To keep (the Barkov line) off the board the whole night was just an outstanding night for (Palat, Cirelli and Killorn). It’s only fitting that when we gave up the shorthanded goal that Palat was the guy that got the go-ahead goal, and I thought he deserved it.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Tampa Bay), FS Florida
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (1-0-0): Power forward Patrick Maroon and defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk each scored goals in their debut with the team as Tampa Bay received points from 10 players - four blue liners. Shattenkirk, who was paired with former Norris Trophy winner Victor Hedman, had five shots and three blocks, telling reporters: “For me it was really just getting the puck to the net and hoping for the best. It seemed to be there most of the night, the shooting lanes.” Captain Steven Stamkos was kept off the scoresheet, but reigning Hart Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov (128 points in 2018-19) scored the first goal and added an assist in the opener.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (0-1-0): The Barkov line was blanked, but Florida’s second unit had four of the team’s five points as Vincent Trocheck recorded a short-handed goal along with an assist while Mike Hoffman scored and Brett Connolly helped set that one up. Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside 25 of 29 shots in his debut between the pipes for the Panthers, mixing in several dazzling saves including one in the second period on Palat. “Obviously we want to have the (win) tonight, but it is what it is,” Bobrovsky told reporters. “It’s a long season. I don’t think we have to think too much, we just have to put this behind us and get ready to work on our home opener.”
OVERTIME
1. Tampa Bay D Mikhail Sergachev had three assists in the opener after managing four in his first 15 games of 2018-19.
2. Florida D Keith Yandle is slated to play his 799th consecutive game Saturday, which is the longest active streak in the NHL and fifth-longest of all time.
3. Lightning C Brayden Point (double hip surgery) sat out the opener, but could return to the lineup soon.