Graphic Credit: Mike Smith | Thunderstruck Sports John Carlson’s career night along with Nikita Kucherov’s natural hat trick ignites the offense leading to a commanding 8-3 victory in Buffalo. Sam O’Reilly made his NHL debut and would score his first point in a score fest. With Brayden Point now on IR the offense had to step up and that would be the case in Buffalo. While a comeback attempt was made by Buffalo, Tampa Bay quickly responded and made sure that there would be no

The plight of the backup goaltender. To some, it is considered the most difficult position in hockey. For the majority of the season, the role is simply to warm the bench. In no city is this truer than Tampa Bay where Andrei Vasilevskiy reigns supreme in the Lightning net. This year, the holder of this uncoveted backup position is newcomer Dennis Hildeby.

Anthony Cirelli scored twice, and Andrei Vasilevskiy shielded the net perfectly to shut down the Vegas Golden Knights in a late-night affair at T-Mobile Arena. With a rough road trip underway, it was important to start with a statement win, and that is what happened here in Las Vegas. Brandon Hagel kept his name on the scoring sheet, and Nikita Kucherov neared history with a three-point night.

The Tampa Bay Lightning wrapped up their final preseason warm-up Saturday morning before heading to South Florida to face the Florida Panthers. The game will cap a grueling two weeks of training camp, where 67 players vied for a spot on the team's 23-player roster.