Quick goals seal win over Panthers in Orlando

The venue was different but the energy was the same.

Fans were treated to the usual big hits, fights and gritty goals they expect to see whenever the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers meet.

Tampa Bay got the final jab, scoring twice in under 30 seconds midway through period two to leave with a 3-2 preseason victory at the Kia Center in Orlando.

“You look around the crowd and you see the blue jerseys, the red jerseys—everybody’s a hockey fan, regardless who you're cheering for,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said of the Orlando experience. “It just goes to show you, people love the game. So the fact that the two NHL teams can leave their cities and go and spread the joy of the game around does nothing but help, and I know the guys enjoy it, so it’s great, and Orlando has been a heck of a host in all the years that I've done it.”

The Lightning are now 5-0-0 this preseason.

"It's fun when these games kind of go back and forth, one-goal games, and you get to see the gamesmanship of players on both teams...both teams gave it their all trying to win,” Cooper said. “You like to see these guys in those kinds of pressure moments and situations."

Tampa Bay’s power play continued its success to open the scoring on Tuesday and is scoring on 24% of its chances this preseason.

Defenseman Darren Raddysh let a shot fly from the top of a 5-on-3 power play, and Oliver Bjorkstrand got a piece of the puck in the high slot to deflect it past Florida goalie Brandon Bussi for the game-opening goal.

The goal was Bjorkstrand’s team-leading third of the preseason.

Florida had a quick response, tying the game with 5:15 left in the first period when MacKenzie Entwistle’s centering pass hopped off a Lightning defender and into the Tampa Bay net.

The Lightning began the second period with even more offensive flair after outshooting the Panthers 13-6 in the opening frame. Tampa Bay earned consecutive 2-on-1 rushes in the opening minutes of period two, but Bussi denied both opportunities before adding another glove save on a third in-tight chance for the Lightning.

Tampa Bay stayed the course to strike later in the period, scoring twice in a span of 28 seconds.

"I think just our gamesmanship, the way we stuck to the process,” defenseman Max Crozier said of what stood out on Tuesday. “A lot of guys selling out, had some big block shots there and just hunkered down there at the end. That was a full team win. Everyone contributed, and that's kind of the thing that we've been working on in camp is everyone matters and everyone's got to stick to the process and do their job.”

Conor Geekie won a race to a loose puck in the offensive zone and then sent his snap shot inside the right goalpost 11 minutes into the middle frame on the 2-1 goal. He worked on his shot this offseason and hopes that improvement carries into the regular season.

“It was only one (goal),” Geekie said, “but I think it felt good just to kind of get that one under your belt and then hopefully carry it over into the coming days.”

Jakob Pelletier’s second goal of the preseason came on a redirected shot pass from Crozier 28 seconds later for a 3-1 score. Pelletier continues his fight for one of the final NHL roster spots among forwards.

Florida cut into the lead 2:30 into the third period before the Lightning closed out a 3-2 win.

"Winning is fun. I mean, who wants to lose in this league,” forward Boris Katchouk said postgame. “Even in preseason these games matter for people like myself to show and do your best and have fun with it."

Tampa Bay and Florida will play again at 7 p.m. on Thursday, this time at Benchmark International Arena.

Benjamin’s Three Stars:

1. Oliver Bjorkstrand, TBL (Goal)

2. Conor Geekie, TBL (Goal)
3. Max Crozier, TBL (Assist)