The Lightning opened the 2023-24 campaign with a 5-3 victory over the Predators at AMALIE Arena on Tuesday evening.
Nick Paul led the way for Tampa Bay, scoring a pair of third period power play goals and adding an assist.
Jonas Johansson earned the victory between the pipes in his Lightning debut, stopping 28 of 31 Nashville shots.
Tampa Bay now hits the road for a three-game road trip against a trio of Atlantic Division rivals. The trip begins with a back-to-back in Detroit and Ottawa on Saturday and Sunday.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
TBL 1, NSH 0
9:48 Nikita Kucherov (1) – Victor Hedman, Brayden Point
The Lightning thoroughly dominated the opening 20 minutes, outshooting Nashville 13-2 and grabbing the lead midway through the period. After setting up high in the zone, Nikita Kucherov one-timed home a feed from Victor Hedman for the season’s first goal.
2nd Period
TBL 1, NSH 1
16:15 Ryan O’Reilly (1) – Filip Forsberg, Ryan McDonagh
On an odd man rush, Filip Forsberg pulled up to avoid a stick-check from Hedman and fed Ryan O’Reilly open in front of the net. O’Reilly redirected the puck past Jonas Johansson to tie the game late in the second period.
3rd Period
NSH 2, TBL 1
0:11 Juuso Parssinen (1) – Filip Forsberg
After winning the opening faceoff of the third period, the Bolts turned the puck over and allowed Nashville to take their first lead of the game. With Tampa Bay out of position, Juuso Parssinen took a feed from Forsberg, cut across the face of goal and tucked the puck through Johansson’s five-hole.
NSH 2, TBL 2
2:25 Nick Paul (1) – Brayden Point, Steven Stamkos – PPG
The Bolts turned momentum back in their favor after a Tyson Barrie holding penalty sent them to the power play. Quick puck movement from Tampa Bay’s top power play unit pulled Saros out of position, and Nick Paul gained control out of a scramble in front and leveled the game at two.
TBL 3, NSH 2
3:07 Brandon Hagel (1) – Unassisted
Brandon Hagel cut through the middle of the Nashville defense to get to the front of the net but was pulled down by Luke Schenn and awarded a penalty shot. He converted to give the Lightning their second goal in a 42-second span.
TBL 3, NSH 3
8:46 Tommy Novak (1) – Philip tomasino, Gustav Nyquist – PPG
Tampa Bay led for just over five minutes before a Tommy Novak power play goal tied the game again. Novak fired from the left circle and snuck his shot through Johansson at the near post.
TBL 4, NSH 3
10:52 Nick Paul (2) – Mikhail Sergachev, Brayden Point – PPG
Just past the midway point of the third, Paul scored his second power play goal of the period. Again, he was lurking around the front of the net and put home the rebound of Mikhail Sergachev’s initial shot.
TBL 5, NSH 3
19:58 Nikita Kucherov (2) – Unaassisted – ENG
Kucherov added an empty net goal with less than two seconds remaining in regulation to ice the victory.
