In a noteworthy debut, Jonas Johansson notched 28 saves as he stepped in for the injured Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Nicholas Paul shone with two power-play goals in the third period, guiding the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 5-3 victory over the Nashville Predators in the NHL season opener on Tuesday night.
Johansson, originally brought in as Vasilevskiy’s backup, delivered a composed performance. This was particularly impressive given the absence of Vasilevskiy, who had recently undergone back surgery and was expected to remain sidelined for another six to eight weeks.
Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper praised Johansson’s steady play, highlighting his positional goalkeeping and cool demeanor even when under pressure.
The Lightning’s Brandon Hagel also capitalized on a penalty shot, while Nikita Kucherov contributed with two goals. Brayden Point proved instrumental with three assists.
This victory extended the Lightning’s impressive record in season openers to 20-9-2, boasting the NHL’s highest winning percentage in this category (minimum 10 games played).
Juuse Saros made 29 saves for the Predators, who had goals from Ryan O’Reilly, Juuso Parssinen, and Tommy Novak in their first game under new head coach Andrew Brunette.
Despite the Predators’ efforts, they struggled to contain the Lightning’s potent power play, a point Brunette emphasized in his post-game comments.
Steven Stamkos, the Lightning’s captain and a player in the final year of his $68 million, eight-year contract, contributed with an assist. Talks about a new deal were deferred by Tampa Bay’s general manager Julien BriseBois until after the season, given the team’s salary cap constraints.
Tommy Novak netted a power-play goal at 8:48 in the third period, and Nicholas Paul scored a crucial power-play goal to put the Lightning ahead 4-3 just 2:04 later. Kucherov sealed the deal with an empty-netter.
Juuso Parssinen opened the third period with a goal only 11 seconds in, but Paul and Hagel quickly responded with goals just 42 seconds apart, giving the Lightning a 3-2 lead at 3:07.
The only first-period goal was netted by Kucherov, as the Lightning dominated with a 13-2 shot advantage.
Nashville’s O’Reilly leveled the score at 1 during the second period, as the Predators outshot the Lightning 14-5.
Nashville center Cody Glass took a point shot off the helmet with six minutes left in the second period but returned in the third period.
Tampa Bay’s Tyler Motte sat out the third period with an undisclosed injury.
In a special moment, college basketball icon Dick Vitale joined a group of Tampa Bay area sports legends for a ceremonial puck drop. Vitale, who is battling vocal cord cancer, shared on social media that he would undergo two scopes within the next five days to assess the outcome of his 35 radiation treatments.
Notable figures present for the occasion included NHL Hall of Famers Phil Esposito and Dave Andreychuk, NFL stars Derrick Brooks and Ronde Barber, and MLB legends Wade Boggs and Fred McGriff.
Additionally, the nine-time Stanley Cup-winning coach Scotty Bowman watched from the press box, reminiscing about his first NHL game in 1937 when his father, a Montreal Maroons fan, took him to see a game against the Canadiens.
Looking ahead, the Predators will host the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night, while the Lightning will face off against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.
