Bolts rally falls short in first game of Prospect Showcase

Tampa Bay started the 2018 Prospects Showcase from Germain Arena in Estero with a flourish and finished with more of the same.
The middle 30 minutes was another story, however.

The Lightning fell 5-3 to prospects from the Nashville Predators on Sunday, the Bolts rallying from a 4-1 deficit in the third period but unable to net the elusive equalizing goal.
"First game, so it's always, those guys are probably very nervous," Lightning prospects head coach Benoit Groulx said. "It's good to have that first game out of the way. I believe our first period was probably our best and the last 10 minutes of the game, we had a push there. I think we saw some good things. Obviously, a lot of things to improve. When you start turning the puck over at the offensive blue line in your own zone, you're looking for trouble and we were in trouble."
Taylor Raddysh scored the first of his two goals on the game on a first period power play. Raddysh was camped out on the edge of the blue paint and had an easy tap-in past Nashville goaltender Miroslav Svoboda once Boris Katchouk wheeled behind the net and found him alone in front. Radim Salda, a Seventh Round selection of the Bolts in 2018, had the second assist.

"I've played with Boris for a year and a bit now, and I've known him for a while so it helps with the chemistry, knowing where each other is," Raddysh said. "It makes it a lot easier."
Nashville scored four consecutive goals, tying the game with just over six minutes remaining in the first period on Yakov Trenin's rebound shot past Lightning goaltender Connor Ingram, who played the full 60 minutes and made 34 saves on 38 shots.
Nashville pushed ahead in the second period, Carl Persson hopping on a loose puck in the Bolts zone and beating Ingram to give the Predators their first lead. Alex Overhardt tipped a puck at the net for a 3-1 Preds advantage in the second and Emil Pettersson got free in front of the Bolts net to extend Nashville's lead to 4-1 with 14:54 remaining in the game.
"I don't think anything changed," Ingram said of the difference between the first and second period. "You look at their roster, that's a pretty experienced team over there. Guys who have played in this five or six times. I think it's an experience thing. We came out of the gates strong, but after that the age and the experience is going to help them. I thought we weathered it and came close at the end."
Tampa Bay mounted a comeback in the third, Raddysh netting his second of the game with 6:27 to go on a wonderful passing sequence between Matt Spencer and Katchouk to Raddysh on the back post.
The Lightning emptied the net with four minutes to go, and Erik Cernak capitalized moments later, taking control of the puck in the left circle, skating toward goal and beating Svoboda with a sneaky shot at the near post to cut the deficit to a goal. Dennis Yan and Alex Barre-Boulet picked up the assists on Cernak's score.

Nashville's Justin Kirkland slid a clear from his own end the length of the ice and into the empty net with 30.3 seconds to go to squash any Tampa Bay comeback bid.
Nashville outshot the Lightning 38-23, although the Bolts held a 10-9 advantage after the first period.
The Lightning will get a chance to pick up a win Monday against Washington (10 a.m.) in their second of two total games at the Prospects Showcase.
Groulx said he wants to see more direct play from his group when they hit the ice against the Capitals.
"Stop the finesse play when it's not there," he said. "I think we tried too many plays with no purpose, but play a more direct game and take those pucks more, keep the puck in front of you in the corners and on net. It's a more simple game."