![]() The Lightning could test others there, possibly Brandon Hagel or Nick Paul, the latter of whom played brilliantly with Kucherov in the brief time they shared the ice during the playoffs. Namestnikov has chemistry with Kucherov and can play all three forward positions. Keep an eye on Vladislav Namestnikov, who has been skating with Point and Kucherov in the team’s informal skates. The Lightning will likely test several players in the top-six role Palat held, and if the team reunites Point and Nikita Kucherov on the top scoring line, they will be hard-pressed to find a player with the kind of chemistry Palat had with them. Palat scored 27 goals over the past three postseasons, including eight game-winners, but it was his lunch-pail style playing alongside some of the Lightning’s top offensive players that might have marked his strongest contribution. The other big hole the Lightning must fill is that of Palat, who landed in New Jersey after the Lightning were unable to re-sign him. Veteran newcomer Ian Cole could also contribute on the penalty kill, but eating up the contributions of a player who tallied 22:27 of ice time a game will take a little extra from the entire defenseman corps. Sergachev will see tougher matchups defensively and likely take on more of McDonagh’s penalty-killing responsibilities. More will be asked of Mikhail Sergachev in filling McDonagh’s left defenseman spot behind Victor Hedman. McDonagh’s lead-by-example approach and level-headedness brought great value to the locker room. He was responsible on both sides of the ice, and two postseasons ago, he arguably was the Lightning’s top all-around player. His defensive strengths sometimes overshadowed his heady ability to push the puck up the ice and create offense. McDonagh was the team’s top penalty killer and shot blocker. Sept.The salary cap doesn’t allow the Lightning to keep their entire roster, and there regularly are offseason roster casualties, but the loss of defenseman Ryan McDonagh hits differently.The coverage in front of him did not help in stopping them from happening, though. Spencer Knight finished the game with 26 saves on 31 shots (.839) and struggled heavily with making saves on cross-ice passes.The Lightning finished 2-for-3 on the power play. Trending news, game recaps, highlights, player information, rumors, videos and more from FOX Sports. Tampa Bay was able to make passes cutting right through the Panthers’ penalty killers and were dominant near the front of the net. View the latest in Tampa Bay Lightning, NHL team news here. With most of its penalty killers out of the game, Florida looked very weak shorthanded.He was making crisp passes all game - including the pass that set up Balcers’ goal - and ended the game with two shots, four hits and three takeaways. Michael Del Zotto took on 29 shifts with 22:59 of time on ice and made a serious case to be this team’s seventh defenseman.Through the preseason, he looks to be the most impressive of Florida’s free-agent signings so far. He was shooting the puck with confidence and pressuring the front of the net on offense and was stopping Lightning rushes with key reads on defense. Rudolfs Balcers was on the money on both ends of the ice.He only had 10 shifts with 6:28 of time on ice and left at 5:20 of the second. Matt Kiersted left the game early in the second period and did not return.The 29-year-old forward completed his hat trick by tapping in a touch pass from Ross Colton with 12:30 to go in the second period.įlorida got a goal back 1:15 later when Haydn Fluery swatted a puck off of Aleksi Heponiemi’s stick and past Vasilevskiy.īrayden Point put Tampa Bay back up three goals 4:56 into the third period by picking up a rebound of a Cal Foote shot and tucking it past Knight. He struck again on a 5-on-3 power play with 45.6 seconds to go in the first period to extend Tampa Bay’s lead to 3-1. Namestnikov got his first goal of the game with a one-timer of his own that snuck over a sliding Spencer Knight’s shoulder and in with 7:45 to go in the first period. Rudolfs Balcers blasted a slap shot past Andrei Vasilevskiy on a delayed penalty 1:27 later to tie the score. ![]()
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