Despite strong showings from a pair of new faces in the Tampa Bay Lightning locker room and a 2-0 lead, the Bolts suffered a 3-2 overtime loss to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.
Nashville scored three unanswered goals, including the overtime winner from Felix Nilsson, to take the preseason win over the visiting Lightning at Bridgestone Arena.
“A lot more good than bad from tonight,” head coach Jon Cooper said of the game. “It’s unfortunate, you want to walk away from the game with the win, but I think it was a growing moment for a lot of the players.”
Jeffrey Viel made a grand entrance in his Tampa Bay Lightning game jersey on Tuesday—the forward, signed to a five-year contract in free agency this summer, scored a pair of goals to lead Tampa Bay in scoring and give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
The Lightning controlled play for much of the first period before Viel opened the scoring three minutes, 44 seconds into the middle frame. Linemate Zemgus Girgensons forced a turnover at the offensive blue line, where Viel corralled the puck before skating to the left hashmark and burying the 1-0 goal through goalie Justus Annunen’s legpads.
That line got the start on Tuesday, and the trio was effective on the forecheck for much of the night. The line has seen time together since training camp opened, with Tuesday’s victory marking their first game action.
The 29-year-old Viel doubled his contribution with the 2-0 goal, this time tapping home a pass from Pontus Holmberg at the left post five minutes into the third period. Rookie defenseman Tomas Kralovic earned the secondary assist on the play.
“Me, Holms and Girgy are trying to build some chemistry, and I think today we got in on the forecheck and were able to make plays and obviously a couple of those paid off,” Viel said. “But it’s a process and it’s about building on it.”
The Predators got a pair of goals from Matthew Wood in the third period—the first on a tipped point shot and the second a power move to the net—to force overtime, before Nilsson ended the night on a shot from the right hashmark 2:30 into the extra period.
Another new addition to the Lightning roster also looked strong on Tuesday, as goaltender Dennis Hildeby made numerous key stops and finished with 23 saves.
Hildeby, 25, was acquired in a July trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs and is set to be part of the Tampa Bay goalie tandem this season alongside Andrei Vasilevskiy.
“He was the biggest reason we were in the game for the whole game,” Viel said of Hildeby. “He was outstanding. He was standing on his head the whole time when we had breakdowns in the D-zone. Great, great game.”
Defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous led the team in ice time, playing 24:28, and the Lightning went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
“I think we played a good 50 minutes,” forward Conor Geekie said. “We bent a little bit toward the end. I think Hildy stood on his head. At the end of the day you learn from it, learn from your mistakes and just come back for the next one.”
Preseason action continues at 7 p.m. Thursday when the Florida Panthers visit Benchmark International Arena.
Benjamin’s Three Stars:
- Felix Nilsson, NSH (OT Game-winning goal)
- Jeffrey Viel (2 goals)
- Matthew Wood, NSH (2 goals)
