Panthers at Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning survived the loss of All-Star Steven Stamkos for 45 games with a broken leg and the trade of leading-scorer Martin St. Louis to post 101 points a season ago. The Lightning look to improve on that with a fully healthy Stamkos and several key additions to a talented young group as they host the Florida Panthers on Thursday in the opener for both teams. The Panthers added six veteran free agents for first-year coach Gerard Gallant, led by captain Willie Mitchell on defense.
A complete season with Roberto Luongo in goal might be the key to a big improvement for the Panthers, who finished with the second-fewest points (66) in the league in 2013-14. Vezina Trophy finalist Ben Bishop opposes Luongo in the opener with an improved defense in front of him, after the acquisitions of top-six blue liners Anton Stralman and Jason Garrison. Stralman has been playing with emerging star Victor Hedman, who had a career-high 55 points last season, on the top defense pair.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Florida, Sun Sports (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (2013-14: 29-45-8, 7TH IN ATLANTIC): The development of young forwards Nick Bjugstad, who led the team in scoring last season with 38 points, 2013 Calder Trophy winner Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov is key long term. General manager Dale Tallon brought in veteran role players to add support, including forwards Shawn Thornton, Jussi Jokinen, Dave Bolland and Derek MacKenzie. Brian Campbell (37 points) leads the defense along with Mitchell and the Panthers look for a breakout season from 23-year-old blue-liner Dmitry Kulikov.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (2013-14: 46-27-9, 2ND IN ATLANTIC): Stamkos played with several different linemates during the preseason and ended up skating with 2014 Calder Trophy finalists Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson in the last game. Valtteri Filppula will center the second line and Ryan Callahan, acquired in the trade for St. Louis, will work in the top two units while free-agent signing Brian Boyle adds size in the bottom six. Forward Jonathan Drouin, the third pick in the 2013 draft, is unlikely to make his NHL debut Thursday while continuing to recover from a fractured right thumb.
OVERTIME
1. Florida D Aaron Ekblad, the first overall pick in the 2014 draft, is expected to be in the lineup for the opener.
2. Tampa Bay RW Nikita Kucherov, who had nine goals in 52 games last season, led the league with six in the preseason.
3. The Lightning won all four meetings – one in a shootout - last season while scoring 21 goals combined.