The Florida Panthers will play the first of three against the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight in a neutral site game from Orlando. Last night, Jack Studnicka scored the game-opening goal 56 seconds after initial puck drop and the game-winning power-play goal 28 seconds into overtime to lift the Panthers to a 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at Amerant Bank Arena. Sandis Vilmanis and Brett Chorske scored the other Florida goals. Mackie Samoskevich collected assists on both of Studnicka’s markers. Jesper Boqvist, Nolan Foote, Ben Harpur and Jeff Petry picked up an assist apiece. Sergei Bobrovsky played half the game and stopped all 11 shots faced before giving way to prospect Cooper Black, who had a bit of rough go of it, finishing with five saves on eight shots. The Lightning enter tonight’s tilt with a 4-0 record in the preseason. They have beaten the Hurricanes and Nashville Predators twice.
- WHEN: 7 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Kia Center – Orlando, FL
- ON THE TUBE: Scripps
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #GoBolts, #FLAvsTBL, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Raw Charge
- GOALIES: Florida: Daniil Tarasov and Brandon Bussi / Tampa Bay: Jonas Johansson and Brandon Halverson
Tonight’s roster
Forwards: Tyler Motte (14), Noah Gregor (18), Nolan Foote (25), Wilmer Skoog (32), Jack Devine (38), MacKenzie Entwistle (44), Brett Chorske (45), Jack Studnicka (53), Ben Steeves (73), Ryan McAllister (76), Sandis Vilmanis (95), Kai Schwindt (97)
Defensemen: Mike Benning (20), Jake Livingstone (49), Marek Alscher (51), Colton Huard (81), Trevor Carrick (88), Mikulas Hovorka (96)
Goalies: Brandon Bussi (30), Daniil Tarasov (40)
Tonight’s games
- Montreal at Ottawa 7 p.m. (Quebec City)
- Washington at Columbus 7 p.m.
- Detroit at Chicago 8 p.m.
- Vegas at Colorado 8 p.m. (TNT)
- Winnipeg at Minnesota 8 p.m.
- Dallas at St. Louis 8 p.m.
- Los Angeles at Utah 9 p.m. (Boise)