Bolts finish the Rookie Showcase with a 1-1-1 record

The 2023 Southeast Rookie Showcase came to an end Monday afternoon with the Tampa Bay Lightning falling to the Florida Panthers by a score of 3-2. The Bolts finished the three-game Showcase with a 1-1-1 record with a win over Nashville Friday and a tie vs. Carolina Saturday.

After enjoying a day off Sunday, Tampa Bay looked like the rest served them well at the start of Monday’s contest, rattling off 14 consecutive shots on goal before the Panthers registered their first shot of the afternoon with 8:49 remaining in the first period.

But despite the high-energy performance, Tampa Bay lost the special teams battle in the first period and went to the locker room trailing 1-0. The Bolts earned an early power-play opportunity 4:04 into the contest and after Florida prospect Skyler Brind’Amour was whistled for tripping at the 14:28 mark, the Lightning had 32 seconds of a 5-on-3 advantage.

Unable to score on the power play, Tampa Bay found themselves shorthanded with 8:02 left in the first when Ethan Gauthier was called for holding. The Panthers opened the scoring 47 seconds later with Mackie Samoskevich beating Hugo Alnefelt to give Florida the one-goal lead that held through the remainder of the opening period.

With Ethan Hay getting whistled for tripping in the dying seconds of the first, the Lightning opened the middle frame with 1:59 of penalty time to kill and successfully got back to 5-on-5 with a strong effort from the PK. Shortly after, the PK came through again with a successful kill of a tripping penalty against Max Crozier.

But just 21 seconds after Crozier exited the penalty box, Florida prospect Wilmer Skoog got behind the Bolts defense after an awkward bounce and fired a shot past Alnefelt to double the lead for the Panthers with 11:49 remaining in the second period.

Trailing 2-0 after 40 minutes, the Lightning went to the locker room with a 23-14 shot advantage and came out for the third with the same work ethic the team displayed throughout the Showcase.

Just 1:44 into the final period, Waltteri Merela collected the puck and skated into the offensive zone before clipping skates with a linesman and falling to the ice. But Merela maintained possession of the puck and was able to send a pass to the slot for Felix Robert, who ripped a quick shot to the far post and past Mack Guzda to make it a 2-1 game.

As the Bolts continued to push for the tying goal, they caught an unfortunate break when LoukaHenault looked to take a skate to the face from a Panthers forward who was falling to the ice. As Henault headed to the bench, a loose puck popped out in front of the net and Florida was able to cash in to take a 3-1 lead with 9:22 remaining.

Tampa Bay refused to go away though with Maxim Groshev shrinking the deficit back to one 49 seconds later when he used his speed to get around a stumbling Panthers defenseman and fire a shot to the far post to make it 3-2 with 8:33 left to play in regulation.

Playing in his first Rookie Showcase, Groshev was strong throughout the three games for Tampa Bay, generating a multitude of offensive chances on a line with Ethan Gauthier and Tristan Allard. The trio saw time together in all three contests and performed well in their first game action with new Syracuse Crunch head coach Joel Bouchard behind the bench.

“I think they played hard, and they were engaged in the play,” said Bouchard when asked about the trio of Groshev, Allard, and Gauthier. “They just got it done when it was time and if therewere mistakes, then we talked to them about it, and they adjusted.

“I thought they were really engaged in the moment and that's nice to see. Three young guys coming in and showcasing themselves, it’s what this tournament is all about. It's about the young guys. Obviously, you have older guys and veterans, but you want the young guys to have a good experience and they did.”

With Alnefelt pulled for an extra attacker, the Lightning pushed for a late equalizer, but the third period came to a close with the final score at 3-2. With the loss, Tampa Bay finished the Showcase with a 1-1-1 record as the team heads North for the start of training camp in the coming days.

“It’s one of those games where we came so hard out of the gate, and you want to have a goal and kind of get rolling,” said Bouchard. “There was a lot of good in this tournament. I thought we played fairly well all along. It's just one of those things where it happens.

“We lost a defenseman early. Guys back there battled hard and even at 2-0 and 3-1, we came back and made it a game. It's all for the young guys to have a good experience and for the players to showcase themselves.

“They have an opportunity to earn another opportunity and we put them in a situation where we felt they were comfortable, and they did well.”