5
0
Lightning spoil Nashville’s party in maiden outdoor game.
TB-3
NSH-2
Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed two goals on 28 shots for the win, in a tough matchup against Saros who played well at the other end.
First Period
8:20 NSH Jeannot (18), (Tomasino, Sissons)(PP)
Second Period
0:58 TB Point (20), (Kucherov, Stamkos)(PP)
6:18 TB Kucherov (9), (Hedman, Stamkos)(PP)
Third Period
11:31 TB Stamkos (25), (Foote, Killorn)
12:29 NSH Forsberg (27), (Granlund, Johansen)(PP)
Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov were the game’s first and second stars.
This game was kind of a microcosm of the Lightning’s season to this point, scratching out a tight victory that in the past they might’ve blown open and turned into a laugher. Credit Saros for that, because the Lightning looked dangerous enough for at least another couple of goals but for his goaltending, especially during the clinic the Lightning put on in the Second Period. Other takeaways from the game: the Lightning needs to address its PK. It’s the one thing on the club that’s obviously not championship caliber at the moment. Beyond that, look at how different the game flow is when the Lightning wins its faceoffs. They got smoked in the circles in the First and Third Period leading to tighter play, but when they dominated the circles in the Second Period they pretty much lived in the Nashville zone. So, two unsexy areas of the game they need to shore up.
Also of note: the Lightning fan base proved a point to the NHL with how well the fan base traveled. The stadium was maybe not 50/50, but maybe 40% of 68K being Lightning fans is nothing to sneeze at. They showed up and they held their own on national TV.
Cal Foote had a helper and was +1 with 1 blocked shot in 11:18. I was ready to say he had a poor game because he got pretty well lost at times on defense. Then he made that amazing diagonal cross ice pass to Stamkos on the eventual GWG. Pure class on that look. Foote is now four appearances from graduation from prospect status on the site.
Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.
