Multiple Tampa Bay Lightning players continued their strong push for the opening night roster in Thursday’s 5-3 preseason loss to the Florida Panthers.
Tampa Bay overcame multiple deficits behind a pair of goals from forward Jansen Harkins and another from a young trio that’s making their impact felt this preseason, but Florida held on for the win in the third period.
“My thing is, are they trying to do the right things? Are they competing hard? And after that, the rest is just prepping yourself,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said of assessing the game. “When I look at it as a whole, I don't sit here and look at the final score...Everybody is different in how they prepare for game one of the regular season. It's a different mindset. So as a coach, you don't want to get in their way. You've just got to make sure you've got them dialed in come October 1."
There weren’t many offensive chances for either team through the first period, as the sides combined for nine total shots on goal. Florida ended the scoreless situation with 15 seconds left on a netfront deflection by forward Bokondji Imama.
The second period told a much different story as Tampa Bay fought back to tie the game.
The Panthers extended their lead 2:29 into the second period on an unfortunate bounce at the Lightning net, but Tampa Bay responded with consecutive goals of their own.
Harkins continued his strong preseason by halving the deficit to 2-1 goal less than a minute later. The 29-year-old forward accepted a drop pass from Ilya Mikheyev in the offensive zone, skated to the left hashmark and beat Florida goalie Cooper Black with his snap shot inside the left post.
A line of young Bolts then tied the score for the home team.
Forward Benjamin Rautiainen chipped the puck to open ice in the neutral zone to give Sam O’Reilly and Conor Geekie a 2-on-0 chance. O’Reilly fed Geekie at the left post, and the latter potted the 2-2 tally with 6:51 left in the second period.
“It’s just getting on pucks,” Geekie said. “Winning that one extra battle, I think Benny did a good job there today, and I just happened to be the guy that put it in. I didn't really do too much there, but again, it’s just winning that one extra battle to kind of give us a chance.”
All three of those players also saw time with Lightning special teams units on Thursday.
“The kids had a nice goal…The trio was great,” Cooper said. “And usually when you put three young guys together, there's energy, there's excitement. They're not prepping the same way as some of the guys that have been in the league for a while, but they were great.”
More goals were waiting in the third period—the Panthers regained their lead on a rush look, but Harkins’ second goal of the night evened the score at 3-3. A Ryan McDonagh shot found the tape of Harkins at the net, who buried the rebound for his second goal of the night with 14:31 to play.
“My game is speed, tenacity, being on the puck, and winning battles,” Harkins said.
“I want to score. It's lots of fun to score. I had a blast out there today, and the fans were great, and it was really cool to be out there on this side. It's always an electric barn…I really honestly try to focus on the things that are gonna get me in the lineup, keep me in the lineup. That’s moving my feet, being reliable with the puck and hard to play against. But obviously you wanna score, you wanna chip in.”
Florida reclaimed its lead once again, this time on a breakaway six seconds after Harkins’ second goal, to take the lead for good. They added an empty-net goal in the final minute for the 5-3 final score.
John Carlson played a team-high 23:51 of ice time for Tampa Bay, and eight different Bolts recorded a point. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves in net.
The Lightning close the preseason on Saturday, when they’ll head to Amerant Bank Arena for a road rematch against the Panthers.
Benjamin’s Three Stars:
- Jansen Harkins, TBL (2 goals)
- Cole Reinhardt, FLA (Goal, assist)
- Kai Schwindt, FLA (Goal, assist)
