Stamkos, Lightning hold off Predators in Stadium Series

NASHVILLE --Steven Stamkos delivered in his first NHL outdoor game, scoring a goal and adding two assists for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 3-2 win against the Nashville Predators in the 2022 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Nissan Stadium on Saturday.

Stamkos, Tampa Bay's captain, is in his 14th NHL season, all with the Lightning.
"Any time you can help the team win it's great, but when you do it in a stage like this, it was a long time coming," he said. "I hadn't had a chance to do this. I played a lot of years in this league, and I'm just proud to put that jersey on, go out there and represent our city in Tampa. It was kind of extra special to have a big game personally, but we wanted to come in here and get the win, and I was super happy with the effort we had tonight. It lived up to all the hype that you hear from some of the guys who have played in these games. You never understand it until you play in one yourself, so it's nice to say we have that experience now."

Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist, Brayden Point scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves for the Lightning (34-11-6), who have won four straight.
Tampa Bay was playing in its first outdoor game.
"Yes, it's one of 82, but this was a little bit bigger than that," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "If you're trying to sell the game in a town that's really bought into hockey, no better way to do it. For me to look back on this, I'll just have warm feelings. It's icing on the cake that we pulled it out."
Tanner Jeannot and Filip Forsberg each scored a power-play goal, and Juuse Saros made 30 saves for the Predators (30-19-4), who have lost five of their past seven games.
Nashville was playing in its second outdoor game. It lost 4-2 to the Dallas Stars in the 2020 NHL Winter Classic at Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas.
The announced attendance was 68,619, a sellout and the seventh-largest crowd in NHL history. It was the League's 34th outdoor game since 2003.
"It was great. It was fun," Forsberg said. "Obviously, the fans showed up for both teams. It was an awesome atmosphere. The conditions were great, too. The weather was perfect. The ice was good. Great experience overall, except for the result."
Stamkos made it 3-1 at 11:31 of the third period, beating Saros with a one-timer from low in the left circle off a diagonal pass from Cal Foote. It was Stamkos' 25th goal of the season.
Forsberg scored 58 seconds later to cut it to 3-2.
Nashville had six more shots on goal and another six that the Lightning blocked in the final 7:31, including three shots and six attempts in the final minute.
"I trust those boys that are out there at the end of the game to get it done. They've proven it time and time again," Predators forward Colton Sissons said. "They had a little scramble in front there and I thought might have squeaked one in, but it didn't go our way."

Jeannot gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 8:20 of the first period when he got to a rebound at the top of the crease. It was his 18th goal, which is tied with Toronto Maple Leafs forward Michael Bunting for the most among NHL rookies.
"It was incredible," Jeannot said of scoring in an outdoor game. "It was good to pot one and have the boys get all excited for that and get the crowd into it."
Point scored 58 seconds into the second period to tie it 1-1, swatting the puck out of the air after Kucherov's backhand pass to him was deflected on the power play.
Kucherov then made it 2-1 with his own power-play goal at 6:18. He beat Saros glove side from the right circle as the goalie moved the opposite way while trying to fight through a screen by Alex Killorn.

The Lightning didn't allow the Predators to get a shot on goal for the final 8:27 of the second.
"I thought they got some juice from the power-play goals and then credit to them, they checked hard up ice and we didn't do a great job getting up and out or our zone," Nashville coach John Hynes said. "But I think if you look at our third period versus their second period, I think it flipped."
Not enough to flip the script, though.
"For a lot of us, this was our first experience in this atmosphere, and it kind of blew it out of the water," Stamkos said. "It was amazing."
NOTES: Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak didn't play after the first period because of an undisclosed injury. He entered concussion protocol early in the game after getting hit in the head by Predators forward Ryan Johansen at 1:19, but returned to finish the period. Cooper said Cernak will be reevaluated in the coming days. … Stamkos is the third NHL player to record a point on each of his team's first three goals in an outdoor game, joining Steve Staios (Edmonton Oilers, 2003 Heritage Classic) and Martin Havlat (Chicago Blackhawks, 2009 Winter Classic).