After falling 2-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes to open their preseason schedule, the Tampa Bay Lightning will face the current Stanley Cup Champion, Florida Panthers, in Orlando tonight. After icing a roster against the Canes that was heavy with players competing for spots on the roster, the Bolts will do the same again tonight as they feature a line-up of players that are most likely destined to play in Syracuse this season.
At the morning skate the lines were:
Forwards
Dylan Duke – Conor Geekie – Max Groshev
(open) – Jujhar Khaira – Jesse Ylonen
Jayden Dureau – Niko Huuhtanen – Gabriel Szturc
Joel Teasdale – Milo Roelens – Kale Kessy
Defense
Scott Wolford – Nick Perbix
Derrick Poulit – Tyson Feist
Tobie Paquette-Bisson – Steven Santini
Goaltenders
Ryan Fanti
Jonas Johansson
Luke Glendening was skating in the “open” spot on the second line, but he’s still in a non-contact jersey. Chances are Mitchell Chaffee will take a spot on that line and was just getting a breather after playing last night.
Lightning fans in Orlando will be able to say they saw Conor Geekie suit up for the first time in a Lightning game (sorry, rookie showcase games don’t really count) on a line that will probably be one of the top lines in Syracuse this year. The same goes for the defense, where Nick Perbix is the only player to be in Tampa for the upcoming season.
The coaching staff will be looking for a similar defensive effort that they got last night. Hopefully there will be a little more offense, but the outcomes of these games aren’t really that important. Jon Cooper and his staff (including Joel Bouchard) are looking to see how the players are grasping the strategies the team wants to implement and if they can carry what they’ve worked on in practice into game situations.
The game will be streamed on the Lightning’s website and through their app, but only for folks in the Tampa viewing area. The puck drops at 7:00 PM.
