In Tampa, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 35 saves as he helped the Lightning defeat the visiting Florida Panthers, 5-2.
The Lightning needed a big third period to separate themselves from the Panthers.
“There was a lot of the game that I liked,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “Again, did we get bit a little bit by the turnover bug in which we gave up a 2-on-1 and a 3-on-1 and things that are in our control not to give up? We did. As a whole can we be better as a team? There’s no question. It’s game one.”
A goal early in the third from Ondrej Palat put the Bolts ahead, 3-2.
Newcomers Pat Maroon and Kevin Shattenkirk had strikes for Tampa Bay in the win.
“I liked the first 40 minutes, the last 20 were too loose for us and they got some timely goals late in the power plays,” Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville said. “I thought for the most part we were in pretty good shape and then we didn’t have the puck much in the third, which was, you know, in their favor, because they’ve got a lot of skill and a lot of speed when they do have it.”
Nikita Kucherov also scored and Erik Cernak added an empty net goal for the final score.
“This is not a good feeling,” Florida captain Aleksander Barkov said. “We had the game in our hands. We played really well but we just couldn’t win and we need to learn how to win.”
Florida’s offense came from Mike Hoffman and Vincent Trocheck.
“I thought we played aggressive. We played a tough matchup game. We played them tough in close. The score was a little bit more lopsided than the game actually was,” Trocheck said.
Tampa Bay kept the Panthers’ top line under wraps most of the night.
“To keep [the Barkov line] pretty much off the board the whole night was just an outstanding night for Palat, [Anthony] Cirelli and Killorn. It’s only fitting that when we gave up the shorthanded goal that Palat was the guy that got the go-ahead goal, and I thought he deserved it,” Cooper said.
[WATCH: All Panthers vs. Lightning highlights]
Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves in his debut with the Panthers.
“I felt good, it’s good to start the season,” Bobrovsky said. “Obviously we wanted to have the [win] tonight, but it is what it is. It’s a long season. I don’t think we have to think too much, we just have to put this game behind us and get ready to work on our home opener (Saturday against the Lightning).”
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