Tampa Bay Lightning preseason Game Four – the standouts and quiet

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
September 24, 2017

TAMPA – Preseason game No. 4 for the Lightning featured a much different look than the previous game two days earlier.

Sunday against Florida, Tampa Bay put a virtual prospect team on the ice, particularly among the forward group. It was a stark contrast to the group put on the ice Friday against Nashville that was to heavy with the likes of Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat.

Instead, the team facing the Panthers featured five forwards yet to appear in an NHL game. So just as was the case with the first three preseason games, it wasn’t about the results, it was more about evaluation and assessing.

So here are some thoughts and observations from Sunday’s 4-2 loss to the Florida Panthers, plus a quick note on why Jake Dotchin has yet to play in a preseason game.

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Note: After the game the team announced that Dotchin has not appeared in a preseason game to date as a disciplinary action after Dotchin violated a team rule. It’s not clear when (or if) he will see preseason action, but it will not affect his standing on the team’s roster.

As with the first preseason game, let’s look at who made the most noise, and as we get closer to the start of the regular season, those who make the most noise are making a strong case for themselves.

Alexander Volkov, the team’s second round pick this year, scored both Tampa Bay goals against Florida – the first on a strong wraparound and the second by charging the net for a backdoor redirect off a feed from Alex Killorn. If you are counting at home – and we’re all counting at home – that means Volkov has scored four goals on the preseason after he had two overturned in the first preseason game on Tuesday.

“He’s shown a little touch around the net,’’ Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “His first game, he scores two that don’t count that came from right around the net. His first goal tonight came from around the net and his second goal he scored by going to the net and I think in the end I think that’s what drawn him to us. That’s a good trait to have because that’s kind of a trait you can’t teach. You can tell guys to go to the net, go to the net and they don’t do it. He’s come in here and in a couple of games and done that, so that’s what’s been impressive about him.’’

Matthew Peca is the only player to appear in all four preseason games to date, getting ample opportunities to show his worth. He’s played in all situations as the team puts him to the test. So far he’s passed just about everything the team has sent his way as Peca makes a strong case to earn a roster spot out of camp.

“I wouldn’t judge guys on games they are getting and when they are getting them, but when they are in them you want to see what they are doing,’’ Cooper said. “Pecs has made considerable strides just from his time last year in the playoffs in the American League. Now this is the by far the best camp he’s had.’’

Mikhail Sergachev also continues to be tested, appearing in his third consecutive game. Sergachev looked much more comfortable and relaxed than his previous game. The team also put him on the right side for Sunday’s game, pairing him primarily with Braydon Coburn (this marked the first time the team did not have a balance between right-handed and left-handed defensemen). Sergachev finished with 23:46 of ice time and while his stat line doesn’t jump out, he handled the workload with a better showing than he did in Friday’s game.

Tye McGinn, getting his second preseason game, was active with a team-high six shots on goal in just under 12 minutes of ice time. He’s a long shot to make the team, but he made a strong showing on Sunday.

Slater Koekkoek didn’t stand out, but might have made some noise while doing so as it can often be the case with defenseman, if you don’t notice them, that means they probably didn’t do much wrong. He finished with 17:14 of ice time and was a main penalty killer.

Mathieu Joseph looked much better on Sunday than he did on Friday, was a bit more involved while playing 17:05. He just missed an open chance to shovel in a goal, was involved in a shorthanded scoring chance and showed his speed.

Who was quiet

Anthony Cirelli was a dark-horse candidate to make some noise in camp, but didn’t put on enough of a showing to make a strong enough case. On Sunday he finished as a minus-3 in 16:30 of ice time. Brett Howden, the team’s first round pick in 2016, has enjoyed a good camp but his preseason games did not stand out, including Sunday when he had 6:12 of power play time yet only had two shot attempts. Adam Erne, who had goals in his first two games, needed to have a stronger showing than he did on Sunday to try and put his skate forward in the hopes of landing a roster spot out of camp. Mitchell Stephens logged just 11:30 of ice time and other than a good shift on the penalty kill did very little, going 0-for-3 in faceoffs and getting just one shot on goal. Michael Bournival is in contention for a spot on the fourth line but logged under 12 minutes of ice time (he played very little special teams) and didn’t really stand out enough to make a case for himself, overshadowed on a line with Cedric Paquette and Gabriel Dumont, two players he’s competing with to grab a spot.

The Lightning expect to make a good number of cuts on Monday as they head to Ft. Lauderdale for the week while Syracuse gets set to open training camp on Tuesday. A number of guys were walking out of Amalie Arena with their bags on Sunday afternoon while a handful more were being asked to see the management staff after Sunday’s game.

So now it’s getting down to the group of the final 30-35 that will essentially make up the core of the team this season (the 23 who make the roster and the presumed first on the call ups list). There are three games remaining to make the final decisions. Sunday’s game likely made some of those decisions.

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