Lightning let lead slip but rally to defeat Florida at Prospect Showcase

Tampa Bay defeated Florida 8-5 in the final game of the 2021 Prospect Showcase Tuesday from AdventHealth Center Ice, the Lightning finishing the tournament as the lone team with a perfect 3-0 record.
And to go undefeated, they Bolts had to partially beat a goalie who will see plenty of starts in the NHL this upcoming season.

The Lightning let a 5-2 second period lead slip away, the Panthers scoring three-straight goals to tie the game 5-5 entering the final frame.
But Tampa Bay controlled the third. Declan McDonnell scored two goals, including the game-winner 1:37 into the period as the Lightning pulled away.
The Bolts never trailed in any of their three tournament wins.
"I think in the room in between periods, everyone was just calm," Lightning center Jack Finley said. "No one was freaking out. It happened a couple times. That's when our goalies stepped up and played well for us at the end. We just continue to compete hard. We had three games, but we had a lot of confidence in our group. It was really fun."
McDonnell's game-winner came on a two-on-one break, Shawn Element threading a pass onto the back post for a charging McDonnell, who roofed a backhander over Florida goalie Olivier Adam, who entered midway through the second period in place of Spencer Knight. McDonnell scored again about six minutes later after he got a step behind the Florida defense on a rush, took a peak behind to see if he had a trailer and then cranked the shot himself from the right circle to beat Adam.
The Lightning tacked on an empty-net goal from Jaydon Dureau with 34.2 seconds remaining for the 8-5 final.
"It was the battle of Florida. We know a lot of these guys from Syracuse," McDonnell said, referencing how both Tampa Bay and Florida sent its prospects to Syracuse last season after the Panthers American Hockey League affiliate in Charlotte opted out of 2020-21. "It was a battle out there. It was a good game to the end, and it was a lot of fun."
The Lightning built a 3-1 lead after one period against Florida and Knight, who will battle incumbent Sergei Bobrovsky to be the Panthers' No. 1 goalie this season. Jimmy Huntington seamed a pass to defenseman Jack Thompson working a two-on-one, and Thompson beat Knight with his shot 9:35 into the contest for the game's opening goal.
"Pretty cool to be able to beat him," Thompson said.
Maxim Cajkovic ripped a shot off a Lightning face-off win past Knight a couple minutes later to push the lead to 2-0. After the Panthers got on the board to get within a goal, the Lightning re-extended their advantage after Xavier Cormier blasted a power-play one-timer into the back of the net.
"I liked the way we forechecked," said Lightning assistant general manager, director of player development Stacy Roest. "I liked the way we were at the net, around the net. Got some good breaks, the one nice face-off goal. A high-caliber goalie like that, put some pucks behind him, gives the guys confidence. I really liked our offense all camp."
Cole Schwindt scored 53 seconds into the second period for Florida's second goal. The Lightning started to pull away from that point before the the Panthers made their final push to tie the game. Cajkovic scored his second goal of the game on a rebound from the right circle, and, with Adam in for Knight, Cameron MacDonald found a loose puck near the hashmarks and shot past the Panthers backup on the first attempt he faced.
"I'm happy that I got two goals, but more important to me is that we won all three games," Cajkovic said. "We showed some good hockey. Still some areas where we can improve, but overall I'm happy with me and also with the team how we performed."
Hugo Alnefelt played a full 60 minutes Tuesday in net for the Lightning and made 23 saves on 28 shots.
Tampa Bay finished as the top team at the Showcase after winning all three of its games. Carolina went 1-0-2, losing in overtime to Nashville in Tuesday's early game. Florida and the Predators each posted 1-2-0 records.
"It's funny because you always come to the camp, and you're like, 'Just go out there and compete. Get the guys back to game action.' Then you lose a couple and you're like, 'oh no.' You want to win every game," Roest said. "It's just compete and guys go out there. I really like the group. Our scouts have done a good job finding high-character kids. We had dinner with them, the staff mixed in with all the players, and it's enjoyable to talk and be around all the players…I thought we played extremely hard. I'm very happy with that."
Cajkovic finished as Tampa Bay's goal and scoring leader for the tournament with three goals and five points. He also had 11 shots over the three games to pace the Bolts. Simon Ryfors, Jaydon Dureau, Xavier Cormier, Jack Thompson and Declan McDonnell each had two goals over the four-day tourney.
Ryfors, Dureau and Element each contributed four points.
Every Lightning skater who played in the Prospect Showcase recorded at least one point.