Johansson shines in preseason debut

Following the news of Andrei Vasilevskiy’s microdiscectomy that was announced by Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois Thursday afternoon, all eyes were on goaltender Jonas Johansson when he made his debut in the Bolts’ preseason home opener vs. the Carolina Hurricanes Friday night.

Signed to a two-year deal by Tampa Bay this summer, Johansson was a third-round pick by the Buffalo Sabres in 2014 and is still a bit of an unknown with just 35 NHL games under his belt. But with a big opportunity in front of him, Johansson could not have had a better performance in his first game with the Lightning, recording a 42-save shutout in a 4-0 victory over the Canes.

“He's a kid that's been in the league a little bit, but he's not ever really gotten his chance,” said Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper. “You never know when you're going to get it. He obviously signed here knowing it wasn't coming in to be the starting goaltender and all of a sudden he's thrust into a situation where playing time might go up.

“You want to see if he's going to take this opportunity and seize it. It's a small sample size, just one game tonight, but he sure made a case. For him, confidence-wise, this has got to be great for him.

“Like I said, it's an exhibition game. He's getting his feet wet. Hasn't played in a game yet, but that's a heck of a night one.”

With eight saves in the first period, 18 in the second and 16 in the third, it was a busy night for the Lightning netminder, who said he tried to keep the same mentality he always has entering the game, despite the pressing situation that lies ahead.

“I can only control what I can control and that's showing up every day and being as good as I can and play as good as I can when I get to play,” said Johansson. “That's my main focus.

“I always try to prepare as if I’m going to play every game. It doesn’t matter what position I’m in, really. The biggest thing for me, I think, is showing up in practice and being good every day. That helps the games too, so that’s just my main focus.”

The Bolts opened the scoring with 3:03 left in the first period after a Hurricanes defenseman misplayed a puck in the defensive zone, allowing Anthony Cirelli to gain possession at the bottom of the circle, go to the net and roof a backhand past Yaniv Perets and into the top right corner.

After scoring on the power play in each of the first two preseason games, Tampa Bay once again found the back of the net with the man advantage with 6:54 remaining in the second period. When Conor Sheary sent a pass to Mikey Eyssimont near the top of the left circle in the Carolina zone, Eyssimont made a crafty spin move around Teuvo Teravainen and dished the puck back to Sheary on the goal line.

Looking to make a play with his head up, Sheary sent a pass across the crease for Felix Robert, who fired a one-timer on net before jamming home his own rebound to make it a 2-0 game.

Going into the third period with the two-goal lead, the Lightning went to the penalty kill with 6:42 remaining in regulation when Gabriel Szturc was forced to take a slashing penalty to break up an odd-man rush for the Hurricanes.

But special teams came through once again for the Bolts with Cirelli making a fantastic play on the penalty kill. Standing up at the defensive blue line, Cirelli intercepted an entry attempt by the Hurricanes, danced around Domenick Fensore, sent a pass to Zach Bogosian, and hammered a one-timer past Perets on the return feed for his second goal of the night.

“It doesn't matter with Tony, whether it's Game 7 of a playoff series or an exhibition game,” said Cooper. “He's still going to give you everything he has. That's what you love about the kid.

“That kid never cheats you with his effort. I'll tell you that.”

Luke Glendening put a bow on the 4-0 win when he jumped on a bouncing puck in the offensive zone and fired a quick shot past Perets for his first goal of the preseason with 4:15 remaining in regulation.

With that finish, Tampa Bay has now gotten preseason goals from three of their free agent signings in Glendening, Tyler Motte and Conor Sheary.

“NHL hockey players,” said Cooper. “Those guys were brought here for a reason. It's not necessarily to score every night, but you want them to feel good.

“The two games they've played, all those guys have impressed. It's a little different dimension for our group and getting to know the guys, but they've fit in seamlessly.”

It was a solid performance for a number of Tampa Bay skaters in the first home game of the preseason, but with the 42-save shutout, especially given the circumstances, Johansson was the biggest story of the night and earned First Star of the Game honors for his performance.

“It's been a really good first week,” said Johansson. “Tough practices, good pace. There's a lot of really good players here.

“The organization is really good. Me and my wife have been really well introduced and we feel very welcome since we've got here, so all positives really.”

With the Lightning playing back-to-back games and wanting to get a good look at all the goaltenders in training camp, Johansson won’t be in net tomorrow afternoon for the 5 p.m. matchup against the Nashville Predators. However, there will be quite a few regulars in the lineup with some big names making their preseason debut. The roster can be found below.