SUNRISE, Fla. – That warmup is over.
Closing out their preseason, the Florida Panthers got another good look at their youngsters in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.
With four exhibitions in the books, the Panthers went 2-0-2 in the preseason.
“The guys that came in to compete for jobs, even if there aren't any jobs to start with, made their case,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “Maybe one or two surprises, but I’ll kind of keep that to myself because I'm not sure they're starting with us anyway. So, some good positive things in that. It (training camp) was good. They went hard for two weeks.”
Opening the scoring for the Lightning, Lucas Mercuri, a 2020 sixth-round draft pick, buried a quick one-timer from the bottom of the left circle to make it 1-0 at 8:50 of the first period.
After ending Thursday’s win at Tampa Bay with an empty-net goal, Sandis Vilmanis stayed hot and got the Panthers on the board later in the first period when he pounced on a loose puck and ripped a shot past Denis Hildeby to make it 1-1 at 17:58.
“It's always nice to score,” said Vilmanis, who is poised for a strong sophomore season in the NHL. “Of course, a win would be even better, but everyone gave their all today.”
Taking advantage of a screen from Cole Reinhardt, Matvei Shuravin, who is entering his first season in North America after growing up in Russia, put the Panthers up early in the second period when he threaded a point shot through heavy traffic to make it 2-1 at 2:03.
In the third period, Benjamin Rautiainen cashed in on the power play to get the Lightning back to even and make it 2-2 at 12:58. With the whistles blowing in their favor, the Lightning enjoyed six trips to the man advantage against the Panthers, but were held to just one goal.
Entering the night, the Panthers were operating at 88.9% on the penalty kill in the preseason.
With the action eventually heading to overtime, Akira Schmid came up in the clutch for the Panthers when he denied Gage Goncalves on a breakaway early in the extra frame.
After getting to play one half earlier in the preseason, Schmid, who’s getting ready for his first season backing up with the Panthers are signing as a free agent this past summer, was happy to get a full game between the pipes under his belt before the regular season begins.
“Thirty is good too, but it doesn't compare to the sixty minutes, you know,” said Schmid, who appeared in a career-high 34 games with the Vegas Golden Knights last season. “You don't get touches [when you don’t play a full game]. You don’t get a start either, you know, so that that definitely was good before the season starts.”
Helping the Panthers get into the shootout and survive overtime, Shuravin had what appeared to be a game-saving moment when blocked a shot form Dylan Duke in the slot.
In the shootout, the Lightning scored twice to secure the 3-2 win.
“We’re well rested,” Maurice said when asked about Tuesday’s upcoming season opener against the Carolina Hurricanes. “We got a little bit of a summer off, so the regular season is exciting for us now, maybe for the first time in a few years. So, it'll be a great one.”
THEY SAID IT
“He gets it off his stick really quick, but that's really not what he's selling here. He's on pucks, he's heavy, he's strong and he's fast.” -- Paul Maurice on Sandis Vilmanis
“He’s been huge just helping me transition, especially with the style of play here. You know every team is a little bit different.” -- Akira Schmid on goaltending coach Rob Tallas
“It was a good game. We played we played hard. We played the right way. Maybe sometimes we let something slip and it cost us a goal, but still, like overall, the game was good and everyone played hard today.” -- Sandis Vilmanis on tonight’s shootout loss
CATS STATS
- The Panthers led 37-26 in hits and 10-7 in blocked shots.
- Sandis Vilmanis skated a team-high 20:15.
- Garnet Hathaway notched a team-high nine hits.
- Brady Tkachuk finished the preseason with a team-high five points (3G, 2A)
- Cole Reinhardt and Aleksander Barkov each had four points in the preseason.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Let’s get down to business.
After wrapping up their preseason, the Panthers will kick off their 2026-27 campaign with a matchup against the defending Stanley Cup champion Hurricanes at Lenovo Center on Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET.
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