Tampa Bay Lightning preseason opener – The Good and The Too Quiet

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
September 19, 2017

TAMPA – The preseason is not measured on wins and losses.

It’s a time to evaluate. From young players looking to make an impression to position battles being determined to veterans looking to get ready for the regular season. So in the long run, results don’t have a great impact.

As Tampa Bay opened the preseason with a 2-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes – a game that featured 18 minor penalties, nine of them slashing calls – let’s evaluate what we saw out of a Lightning lineup that featured seven players drafted in either 2016 or 2017.

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We’ll break this down in to three categories – The Good and The Quiet.

Let’s start off on a positive note with The Good: Some impressive performances out of some of Tampa Bay’s youngest players – Cal Foote, Alexey Lipanov, Alexander Volkov, Boris Katchouk, Libor Hajek – as well as some trying to make a push – Matthew Peca and Gabriel Dumont.

First let’s look at Lipanov, the team’s third-round pick in 2017 who has drawn some comparisons to Jonathan Toews. After starting off a bit slow, which is to be expected in making an NHL debut, Lipanov may have been the team’s best player by the end of the night. His stat line doesn’t stand out after playing 15:42 with two shots on goal and three total attempts while winning half of his four faceoffs.

But Lipanov was aggressive in his approach and wasn’t exactly testing the waters and as the game wound down, frequently found himself on the ice as Tampa Bay pushed for the tying goal. He had a great rush up the ice, providing a toe-drag coming through the neutral zone to create space up the middle that led to a scoring chance when Volkov left a drop-pass for Katchouk. He also had a hand in an apparent tying goal that was waived after Volkov was ruled to have made contact with the goaltender as he came across the top of the crease area.

”Lipanov sees the ice, he has some grit to his game and he’s not afraid to go to those dirty areas’’,’’ Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “Just as our team, he just got better as the game went on and probably by the end, that was our best line.’’

Lipanov said he was happy with how his preseason NHL debut went, coming just less than three months after being drafted by being aggressive in his approach.

”It’s my dream to play in the NHL, that’s my game,’’ he said. “I’m very happy, my first game, preseason in the NHL, it went very well for me.’’

Foote, the 14th overall pick in the June draft, led all skaters in ice time with 21:56 and was the only Lightning player to crack the 20-minute mark, just over seven minutes of which came on the power play. He finished with three shots on goal and eight attempts overall while blocking two shots. Foote showed good poise with the puck and was active on the blue line in the offensive zone.

”These kids were just up on stage being drafted a few months ago and now they are playing in Amalie Arena wearing a Lightning jersey,’’ Cooper said. “It’s a pretty exciting time for them but when the lights come down you still have to go out and play hockey and they did a good job.’’

Volkov meanwhile had two goals wiped off the board so he did not get the reward for how he played, but the fact both of his overturned goals came from being right around the net should tell you how his game went. He only registered one shot on goal but had four attempts and was very active around the net area.

Katchouk complemented the line with Lipanov and Volkov and showed some offensive flair, leading all Lightning players with eight shot attempts. Just like his teammates, Katchouk seemed to be around the net every time the puck was in the offensive zone and did not shy away from the high contact areas.

Hajek, playing his second ever preseason game, made good decisions coming out of his own end with the puck and never put himself in a difficult situation. He finished with 19:57 of ice time, playing on both the power play and penalty kill with five shot attempts.

Peca, who got his first taste of the NHL last season, looked in command and comfortable in his preseason debut, picking up the primary assist on Adam Erne’s power play goal, flipping a quick backhand pass to Erne at the top of the crease. For a player looking to battle for a roster spot, Peca did little to hurt his cause.

Dumont, in contention for a fourth-line center role, showed energy to his game, something he needs to bring every night. He picked up five hits and won 9-of-15 faceoffs, something that may very well give him an edge in the battle for playing time once the regular season begins.

Now for The Quiet for those players who should have shown more.

Steve Yzerman told me over the summer they would like to see Taylor Raddysh play a louder type of game, but he was way too quiet on Tuesday. One of the top scorers in the Ontario Hockey League last season, Raddysh failed to register a shot attempt during the game, and for a player with a quick release, he needs to get pucks on net and he didn’t do enough of that in what might be his only preseason game.

Anthony Cirelli went pretty much unnoticed on Tuesday and didn’t put up much on the scoresheet one shot, two attempts and one blocked shot. He’s a sleeper pick to see some time in the NHL this season after he looked strong while stepping in to the Calder Cup Final last season with Syracuse. Cirelli will need to show better, provided he gets another preseason game, if he wants to remain high on the depth chart.

One player I was really interested in was defenseman Oleg Sosunov, the 6-foot-8 defender who has been a bit of a standout in the early stages of camp. He’s shown good mobility for his size, but his play on Tuesday showed why he’s still considered a project. While Sosunov looked fine with his frontline skating, he struggled at times with his pivots and transitions. Though that didn’t hurt him in his preseason debut, facing more regular NHLers might expose that a little more.

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