It’s time for the regular season after the Tampa Bay Lightning wrapped up the 2026 exhibition schedule on Saturday with a 3-2 preseason shootout victory over the Florida Panthers.
Benjamin Rautiainen scored a slick goal to claim the win in the third round of the shootout, and the Lightning finished the preseason with a 2-1-1 record.
“It’s always fun to end it on a winning note, there’s no doubt,” head coach Jon Cooper said.
“There’s probably a lot of teams in the league that were playing their lineups, and tonight was two teams that were playing guys that were fighting to make the team, so I think that added a little bit more juice to the game. It was a lot of fun to be a part of and a pretty cool shootout with Rauts doing what he did and to win it. It was a great ending, but now it’s time to turn the page and get ready for opening night.”
Young forward Lucas Mercuri got his first appearance of the preseason and made an immediate impact by scoring the 1-0 goal for the Lightning. The 24-year-old center found open ice at the bottom of the left circle, where Nick Abruzzese fed him a pass. Mercuri roofed the shot over Akira Schmid’s glove 8:50 into the game.
Saturday marked Mercuri’s preseason debut after he worked his way back from injury to open camp. He finished with the goal, three hits and went 6-for-8 in the faceoff circle.
“It’s nice to get it early,” Mercuri said. “What a play by Z and Vieler just holding the puck along the wall. It’s just outmuscling the guy, outworking them and that’s what we’re about here so it’s been good. It was nice to get one in.”
Florida evened the score in the closing minutes of the first period with Sandis Vilmanis’ shot from the right hashmark after a turnover and then took the lead on a point shot by defenseman Matvei Shuravin 2:13 into the second period.
Another Lightning prospect tied the game in the third period, this time Rautiainen. While on the power play, Rautiainen one-timed home a Gage Goncalves pass at the left post with 7:02 left in the game to make it 2-2.
The 21-year-old forward then silenced the crowd by winning the game in the third round of the shootout, kicking the puck to himself and firing a goal inside the left post.
“Actually I’ve never done that,” Rautiainen said of the winning deke. “I tried to test it and it went in. I’m happy.”
Tampa Bay forward Jeff Viel had an assist for the visitors and got involved further with a fight against Florida’s Sam Lafferty. Gage Goncalves and Conor Geekie also had assists for Tampa Bay.
“Finished on a good note,” Viel said of the preseason finale. “It’s always nice to get the win, and I thought we played a good 60 (minutes) today.”
Max Crozier’s 25:59 led Tampa Bay in ice time, and goalie Dennis Hildeby posted 20 saves in his first preseason win. The Lightning were particularly strong in the faceoff circle as a team, winning 60% of the draws. Sam O’Reilly led the way with 10 faceoff wins.
The preseason is officially over. The Lightning open the 2026-27 season this Thursday with a 7 p.m. visit to play the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
“This was the most competitive camp we’ve had in quite some time since I’ve been here, and it was a pleasure to be around all the kids and the guys that aren’t with us anymore,” Cooper said. “This was a different camp, and it’s impressive some of the players that Julien and our scouting staff have brought in here without wheeling around some high picks that we haven’t had.”
Benjamin’s Three Stars:
1. Benjamin Rautiainen, TBL (Goal, SO winner)
2. Lucas Mercuri, TBL (Goal)
3. Jeff Viel, TBL (Assist, fight)
