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Gary Roberts had a goal and an assist to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 4-1 win over Eisbaren Berlin on Sunday in their first exhibition game in eastern Europe.
Tampa Bay is 4-1 in exhibitions with one game to go—Tuesday in Slovakia— before opening its NHL season in Prague against the New York Rangers.
Olaf Kolzig, a native of Germany and former member of Eisbaren Berlin, had 34 saves for the Lightning (Associated Press - Sports).
Two quick strikes in the third period gave the Lightning a boost before heading off to Europe.
It will still be another week before games count for real, but Tampa Bay finished its North American portion of the preseason with a 4-2 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday night.
After a fast change of clothes and some roster cuts, the Lightning left Madison Square Garden for a ride to the airport and an overnight flight to the Czech Republic, where they will open the regular season with a two-game set against the Rangers in Prague next weekend.
Ryan Malone and Martin St. Louis scored 2:18 apart in the third period to rally the Lightning. Tampa Bay pulled off the late comeback despite being outshot 47-25. Karri Ramo was in goal for the entire game and was sharp in making 45 saves.
“We played awful,” Lightning coach Barry Melrose said. “Our goalie gave us a chance to win. We battled hard in the third, moved the puck well and showed a lot of composure and found a way to win.”
New York had 18 shots in each of the first two periods but produced only a pair of goals from Dan Fritsche and Lauri Korpikoski. Backup goalie Steve Valiquette also was in the nets for the whole game, giving Henrik Lundqvist the night off.
“It was unfortunate. We played hard,” new Rangers defenseman Wade Redden said. “We had a lot of shots … if we got a few of those rebounds, maybe it’s a different game. We had a few empty nets that didn’t cash for us.”
The Rangers played for the fourth straight night and lost their third consecutive—including a defeat at Tampa Bay that started the skid on Tuesday. New York has been going with a bit of a split squad since it began a preseason schedule of six games in eight days before heading to Europe.
The Rangers will face New Jersey at home Saturday before flying that night to Switzerland to take part in the Victoria Cup. The Lightning will also play a pair of exhibition games in Europe before taking on the Rangers for real.
“It’s tough because they don’t have their whole lineup, we don’t have our own lineup,” St. Louis said. “You’re trying to get the cobwebs out and get on the same page as a team more than anything.”
Fritsche, who came to the Rangers in a big summer deal with Columbus, gave New York a 1-0 lead 8:58 into the first period with a snap shot from the dot in the middle of the right circle. Chris Gratton tied it at 11:37.
Korpikoski netted his second goal of the preseason at 7:56 of the middle period, slipping a shot past Ramo.
Then came the late Lightning strikes in the third.
Rookie Steven Stamkos, the top overall pick in this year’s NHL draft, rushed down the middle of the Rangers zone before being stopped by Valiquette. The rebound came right out in front to Malone for the goal at 2:18.
Tampa Bay took its only lead of the game soon after when Matt Carle fired the puck down the ice, where St. Louis tracked it down in the New York end. He outskated defenseman Dmitri Kalinin and let go a backhander that beat Valiquette over the left shoulder, popping up the water bottle on top of the net.
Evgeny Artyukhin added an empty-net goal in the closing seconds, with an assist from Stamkos, to make it 4-2.
“They’re a good team. We knew that and we respect them,” Melrose said of the Rangers. “We’ve got to play better if we’re going to beat them in Prague.” (Associated Press - Sports).
Top pick Steven Stamkos scored his first goal, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the New York Rangers 3-2 in a preseason game on Tuesday night.
Stamkos, taken first overall in this year’s draft, scored on a wrist shot from the left circle during a power play to put the Lightning up 2-0 in the second period.
Ryan Craig and Martin St. Louis also scored for the Lightning. Mike Smith made 38 saves.
The Rangers got power-play goals from Dan Girardi and Fredrik Sjostrom. Miika Wiikman played the first 30 minutes, allowing three goals on 14 shots.
Many of New York’s top players didn’t make the trip. Center Scott Gomez, left wing Markus Naslund and defenseman Wade Redden played for the second straight night.
The Rangers beat Ottawa 2-1 at home on Monday and are playing six games in eight days before their season-opening trip to the Czech Republic, where they will face the Lightning in two games that count.
The teams will also face off on Thursday in New York (Associated Press - Sports).
Tyler Kennedy scored a tiebreaking power-play goal early in the third period to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in a preseason game on Monday night.
Kristopher Letang added a goal and an assist for the Penguins. Maxime Talbot had the other Pittsburgh goal.
Pittsburgh goalies Dany Sabourin and John Curry combined to stop 37 shots.
Jussi Jokinen and Michel Ouellet scored for Tampa Bay. Olaf Kolzig made 21 saves.
Most of Pittsburgh’s top players, including team captain Sidney Crosby, didn’t make the trip. Defenseman Sergei Gonchar is out with a shoulder injury.
Tampa Bay captain Vincent Lecavalier, coming back from shoulder surgery, sat out. He is working out with the team, and might be ready for the start of the regular season (Associated Press - Sports).
Brandon Bochenski had two goals and an assist, and Jussi Jokinen and No. 1 draft pick Steven Stamkos scored in the shootout to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 5-4 preseason victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.
Janne Niskala added a goal and an assist the Lightning, who tied the game when Bochenski scored with 1:19 to play.
Stamkos, the first overall pick in this year’s draft, made a successful NHL debut under new Lightning coach Barry Melrose. Though limited to two shots and a minus-1 rating in his 21:41 of ice time, the 18-year-old player from Canada showed flashes of the talent that drew comparisons to Penguins captain Sidney Crosby—the top draft pick three years ago.
Crosby gave the Penguins a 4-3 lead with a short-handed, unassisted goal with 2:53 left in regulation. Pittsburgh had erased an early 3-1 deficit with two power-play goals by Petr Sykora.
Jordan Staal scored 51 seconds into the game for Pittsburgh, and Wyatt Smith also scored for Tampa Bay.
While the Penguins didn’t use their regular lineup in entirety, most of the top stars—including Crosby, Staal, Evgeni Malkin, goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and newcomer Miroslav Satan—played in the game.
Sergei Gonchar, the Penguins’ top defenseman, left the game in the first period after a hit from David Koci. He didn’t return, and the Penguins didn’t provide information about his injury.
Tampa Bay sat many of its top veterans, most notably new captain Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis. Eleven players in the Lightning lineup appeared in seven games or less at the NHL level last season.
The Lightning and Penguins will open the regular season against each other in two weeks with a two-game series in Stockholm, Sweden (Associated Press - Sports).
Jussi Jokinen and Vincent Lecavalier scored in a shootout Tuesday to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-2 victory over HC Slovan Bratislava in a preseason game, the first ever for an NHL team in Slovakia.
