(Tampa) Jonas Johansson made 29 saves, Nicholas Paul scored twice on the power play in the third period and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Nashville Predators 5-3 on Tuesday in the first game of the season of the NHL.
Johansson joined the team to assist Andrei Vasilevskiy. The star goalie, however, had back surgery two weeks ago and is expected to miss six to eight weeks of activities.
Brandon Hagel hit the target with a penalty shot and Nikita Kucherov also scored twice for the local favorites. Brayden Point had three assists.
Predators goaltender Juuse Saros blocked 29 shots. Ryan O’Reilly, Juuso Parssinen and Tommy Novak scored in Andrew Brunette’s first game as Tennessee head coach.
Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, entering the final year of his eight-year, $68 million contract, had an assist. Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois indicated that his team, which skillfully juggles with the salary cap, will only begin negotiations after the season.
Novak threaded the needle with an extra man at 8:48 of the third period before Paul made it 4-3 2:04 later. Kucherov completed the score in an empty cage.
Parssinen flashed the red light just 11 seconds into the third period before the Lightning scored two goals in 42 seconds. Paul and Hagel put the Lightning up 3-2 at the 3:07 mark.
Kucherov scored the only goal of the first period, which the Lightning dominated 11-2 in shots on goal.
The second period was all about the Predators, who had a 14-5 advantage in shots. O’Reilly took the opportunity to tie the game.
Predators center Cody Glass took a point shot from teammate Tyson Barrie on the helmet with six minutes left in the second. He nevertheless returned to the game in the third.
Famous coach Scotty Bowman watched the game from the press box. The 90-year-old saw his first game in 1937, when his father took him to see a duel between the Maroons and the Montreal Canadiens.
