Steven Stamkos set up the first goal on his first shift in his first game since injuring his knee Nov. 15, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the Nashville Predators 3-1 at Amalie Arena on Friday.
Stamkos, who played 19:05 in his preseason debut, passed behind his back to Victor Hedman at the left hash marks for a shot that beat goalie Juuse Saros 33 seconds into the game for a 1-0 lead. Stamkos had an assist on Nikita Kucherov's goal that made it 2-0 at 15:37 of the first period. Yanni Gourde scored to put Tampa Bay ahead 3-0 at 3:26 of the third period. Austin Watson's goal at 14:05 made it 3-1. Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves, and Saros made 26.
