Power play strong, Lightning boast best preseason start in a decade

Following a 2024-25 season in which the Tampa Bay Lightning finished with a top-five power play in the NHL, multiple players felt they still had room to grow on special teams this year.

The Lightning already boast one of the top power play groups in the NHL, and if Saturday’s preseason game was a sneak peek at the team’s possible second power-play unit, another strong campaign should be on the way.

Forward Mitchell Chaffee scored the winning goal on the man advantage less than five minutes into the second period in a 4-1 win over the Nashville Predators at Benchmark International Arena.

Tampa Bay is now 4-0-0 this preseason, the team’s best start since a 4-0-0 jump in 2013.

“That's what training camp is for,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said of transferring winning habits from the preseason into the regular season. “It's to build your habits. We have a standard to how we play here, and these guys have lived up to it. If this is the way the boys are going to compete, the rest of it's going to come. But like I said, this is where it all starts to build.”

Tampa Bay’s power play scored on its third chance of the game 4:27 into the second period.

Chaffee got the puck in the left corner, walked down the goal line and slipped his shot past the glove of Juuse Saros. Cirelli and Hagel earned the assists after drawing a pair of penalty killers to the side boards before finding Chaffee down low.

“Our quote-unquote No. 1 power play is pretty much set,” Cooper said. “So you kind of get a vibe for your second unit. And it's kind of how we've set these games up is to have units together and see how they work.”

Hagel then scored another power-play goal at the left post with 2:58 left in the game thanks to a cross-ice pass from Gage Goncalves.

“It's a big part of the game,” Chaffee said of special teams. “Obviously, we've been good on the power play the past years, and it's good practice for us. I think it's good to be able to come out here and get it very game-like, both power play and penalty kill.”

Goncalves and defenseman Darren Raddysh rounded out that power play unit. Raddysh’s first point of the 2025 preseason opened the scoring just 5:34 into the game on Saturday, this time at even strength.

Tristan Allard got a piece of the puck while being checked in the slot, feeding it to Raddysh at the right faceoff dot. Raddysh quickly fired the puck inside the left goalpost for the 1-0 lead on a play that saw Scott Sabourin earn the secondary assist down low after linemate Dominic James earned the offensive zone.

“I think you can build some confidence here,” Raddysh said. “There's a lot of gamers and a lot of guys that are willing to do a lot of things that some guys don't. So that's good, and we're just trying to build it for the first of the season.”

Goncalves closed the scoring with the 4-1, empty-net goal. His two-points co-led the Lightning on Saturday alongside Hagel (Goal, assist), Chaffee (goal, assist) and Cirelli (two assists).

Tampa Bay goalie Brandon Halverson was steady through the two periods he played on Saturday, stopping 19 of 20 shots. His only blemish was a netfront redirection by Nashville’s Ozzy Wiesblatt that made it 2-1 just before the midway point of the second period.

Ryan Fanti saw his first action in Lightning blues on Saturday, making nine saves in the third period. Fanti became the fifth goalie to play this preseason for Tampa Bay and the second to not allow a goal against.

“Everyone's given us a chance to win,” Cooper said of the goalies this Lightning preseason.

“I thought all our goalies have been great. And even Meneghin, the poor kid, he gave up a couple, but I put that more on the guys in front of him than him. So it's another good asset too is when you can sit back and look and say, ‘Hey, we've got some goaltenders here.’ It’s great.”

Tampa Bay continues the preseason on Tuesday with a trip to the Kia Center in Orlando, where they will play the first of three straight preseason games against the Florida Panthers.

Benjamin’s Three Stars:

1. Mitchell Chaffee, TBL (Goal, Assist)

2. Darren Raddysh, TBL (Goal, Assist)

3. Brandon Hagel, TBL (Goal, Assist)