Lightning Bounce Back in Second Preseason Game.

By Jake Ricker

The Tampa Bay Lightning took on the Nashville Predators in their second preseason game. There were a lot of positives to take away from this game, but here are three things we noticed from the Bolt's 2-1 win over the Predators on Wednesday night.

Groshev

Maxiem Groshev was a player who stood out during the Lightning's 2023 Rookie Showcase, and he has been impressive once again. Groshev scored in the second period during a power play to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead. Groshev showed his speed as he got past Nashville defenders from the blue line and fired a nice shot that snuck past Juuse Saros. It is unlikely that Groshev will be in the NHL this year, but he is starting to make a great case that he should be.

Tomkins

At 29, Matt Tomkins has played his fair share of professional hockey. He showed some great potential tonight, making 30 saves on 31 shots. The one goal he let in was a great shot from Novak, making it hard to put too much blame on him.

Tomkins did struggle to find the puck at times but still was able to control rebounds when needed. Overall, he played a great game, and it will be interesting to see if he can make an impact in the minors this year.

Penalties

The One negative from this game was the penalties. While it is preseason, the Lightning had seven total penalties in this game, with six of them coming in the final 20 minutes. This is definitely something the Lightning will need to work on moving forward. You will not be able to get away with that many penalties when playing regular season games.

On the flip side, the penalty-killing unit did look very good, killing six of the seven penalties. Yes, this was not Nashville's top unit, but it also wasn't the Bolt's top PK unit.

Overall Thoughts

The Lightning had the less experienced lineup tonight, but it did not stop them from winning this game. Overall, the team looked very good and showed a lot of positives. Eyssimont was another player who played well but did not get mentioned in this article since he will be a day-one starter.

Media's three stars

Tomkins (30SV 1 GA)

Motte (1G)

Novak (1G)

Our three stars

Tomkins (30SV 1 GA)

Groshev (1G)

Eyssimont (1A)

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