By Michael Wax
The Tampa Bay Lightning couldn’t finish off the preseason sweep of the Florida Panthers, falling 2-1 in overtime. While they were good, there were a lot of missed opportunities to seal the game in regulation.
Here are three things we learned from the loss:
ThreeMendous
For the second time this preseason, we saw the Lightning's top line go to work. They would pick up the Lightning's only goal of the game as well, a Nikita Kucherov shot off a won faceoff to tie the game late in the third period.
(no video of the goal thanks to the stream)
Overall, this trio has done great things in their first two games together. They’ve generated scoring chances and shown a willingness to shoot the puck a lot. Whether they're accurate is another story, but we’re early in the preseason, and the shooting mentality is welcome.
Big Cat Back
Welcome back, Andrei Vasilevskiy.
In his first preseason action since 2022, Vasilevskiy was fantastic. To anybody who says the preseason doesn’t matter, it absolutely matters for guys to get acclimated to game speed, which we saw was a detriment when Vasilevskiy came back in late-November of last season.
Vasilevskiy made some brilliant saves in the first two periods of play, and then was helped by his defense in the third period with a reduction in shots (just 3 SOG in the third).
The only two goals Vasilevskiy gave up were on the power play in the first period and at three on three in overtime. For the second consecutive game, the Lightning didn’t allow a goal at five-on-five. This is a testament to not only their defense but also their goaltending getting into shape.
Geek Squad
Conor Geekie is making it harder game after game to get sent down.
Centering the fourth line between Ethan Gauthier and Dylan Duke, Geekie had instant chemistry with his frequent linemate Gauthier and recent re-addition to the lineup, Duke. They had a solid amount of scoring chances, which is impressive considering the limited ice time they got as the fourth line. However, what Geekie did in the second will be the talking point.
After Josh Davies got Lightning captain Victor Headman with a clean, open-ice hit, the temperature went from 0 to 100 very quickly. Nikita Kucherov went right after Davies, taking a penalty in the process, and Geekie would go after the young player a little later. Geeky immediately stood up for his captain after a whistle, dropping the gloves and then dropping Davies.
Geekie would pick up 19 minutes worth of penalties, meaning he didn’t see the ice until midway through the third period.
On one hand, it’s difficult to defend a player who wound up missing nearly 1/3 of the game on a retaliatory fight following a clean hit. On the other hand, Geekie had shown his scoring touch in previous games, yet another aspect of his game that exemplified how much he wants to make the roster.
(Via Gabby Shirley/X)
It’ll be interesting to see what the Lightning end up doing with the 20-year-old forward, but he seems to be the front-runner for a position with the Lightning out of camp.
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