Lightning prospects play well in 3-2 overtime loss to Nashville

Saturday’s game against the Nashville Predators was a little more physical than the one against Carolina on Friday for the Tampa Bay Lightning prospects. For 59 minutes they held up pretty well, but a late goal for the Preds tied the game at two. The host team would win it in overtime.

If these games held any standing in the regular season, the early narrative would be an inability for the Lightning to hold a third period lead. For the second night in a row they led going into the third period, and for the second night in a row they saw that lead evaporate. The good news is, the final scores don’t really mean anything. The coaching staff is looking more at individual performances and how the players are adapting the process more than what the actual outcome of the game might be.

As observers, we’re doing the same thing. Rather than focus on the team itself, we spent the day watching individual players to see how they’re developing. Here are some random observations of the contest.

• Harrison Meneghin got the start and looked really solid with 25 saves on 28 shots. He didn’t have to make too many acrobatic saves as his positioning was sound. Of the three goals he gave up, two would have required fantastic saves. The first goal was a back-door slam dunk, and the overtime winner was a one-timer off of a cross-ice pass. He would probably want the game-tying goal back as it was a quick shot from the slot that beat him through the five-hole.
• Conor Geekie got off to a slow start, but became more involved as the game continued. He might want to hang out in Nikita Kucherov’s garage and work on his one-timers a bit as he had about five attempts and didn’t really get solid shots off on any of them. What stood out was his defensive game, especially in the offensive zone. We’re not saying he’s going to win a Selke based off what we’ve seen in two glorified scrimmage games, but he has the skills needed to be in the conversation.
• Max Groshev continued his strong tournament as he assisted on both goals. He has easy speed on the ice, is a willing forechecker, and made two excellent passes. This is exactly what he needs to do to earn a spot on the Lightning roster this fall. He would add some speed and forechecking on the fourth line.
• Roman Schmidt was solid on defense. There were some nice plays in the first period where he forced a skater wide and then used his size to eliminate the play along the boards. His positioning was pretty good on entries and made some nice outlet passes.
• The two invitees, Jace Weir and Kyle Chyzowski, were both in the line-up. They didn’t make too much of an impact.
• Max Crozier has had better nights. He had an egregious turnover turnover on the Lightning’s first power play and just seemed a bit off with some of his passes thoughout the night.

• Ethan Gauthier had his first goal of the tournamentto cap off a strong night. He finished off a nice pass from behind the goal line by Groshev to give the Bolts the 2-1 lead in the second period.