Harkins, Geekie Impress; Lightning Lose to Panthers
By MIke Smith | Thunderstruck Sports
Cole Reinhardt scored the game-winning goal and added an assist as the Florida Panthers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday night, 5-3. Bokondji Imama and Kai Schwindt also added a goal and an assist each in the first of two preseason games between the teams this week.
Florida brought a mostly new group to Tampa to face off against the Bolts, choosing to play their core team earlier this week against the Boston Bruins. The strategy paid off as the younger Panthers outpaced the Lightning veterans for much of the evening.
"I'm pleased with some of the new guys and their impact," Florida coach Paul Maurice said afterwards. "I thought we were pretty good on the routes we were supposed to run and the style of how we move the puck wasn't bad at all."
Reinhardt, selected off waivers from the Vegas Golden Knights last March, stole the puck from Bolts defenseman Ryan McDonagh to score just six seconds after Tampa Bay tied the game in the third period to clinch the win.
"He (Reinhardt) just has a fantastic release, and I think his game has quieted, if you would," Maurice said. "He doesn't feel the pressure, possibly because he's had some offensive success...he's been very intelligent about when he's tried to do something with the puck...so that's some growth there for him."
Florida Starts Out Fast; Lightning Start Out Flat
With Florida's youth flying across the ice in the first 20 minutes of play, Tampa Bay's noticeably sluggish starters held the Panthers off the scoreboard until just 15 seconds remained.
Imama scored at the 19:44 mark of the period when he deflected a Donovan Sebrango shot past Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.
The Panthers scored again to make the score 2-0 at the 2:29 mark of the second period when Vasilevskiy misplayed a puck behind the net. The normally sure-footed netminder couldn't reset in the crease before Schwindt got enough of the careening puck to bounce it off Vasilevskiy's skate and into the back of the net.
Tampa Bay gained some traction 45 seconds later when Jansen Harkins scored at the 3:14 mark to cut the lead to 2-1. Harkins took an Iiya Mikheyev pass, set himself up with a pump fake, and blasted the puck past Panthers goalie Cooper Black.
“It’s a new team (for me). You have a little nerves and jitters and stuff like that, but as much as you can kind of be calm and make plays, there are plays to be made out there," Harkins said.
Lightning Young Guns Continue to Impress
Conor Geekie tied it at 13:09 of the second period when he snapped a Sam O'Reilly pass top shelf on a two-man breakaway. Benjamin Rautiainen found O'Reilly streaking through the neutral zone, and O'Reilly made some moves to lock in Black before sliding the puck across the slot to Geekie.
With precise motion, Geekie didn't miss and elevated the puck over Black.
"It's just stuff I've been working on the whole summer with Randi Milani and everyone I have been skating with," Geekie said. "When you get the chance, put it in the net. I think maybe in past years I've not let up, but I wasn't making sure it was in, and that one, I was just making sure it got in."
O'Reilly and Rautiainen had a quiet night up until that point, but when the Lightning needed them to step up, they did.
“The kids had a nice goal…The trio was great, and usually when you put three young guys together, there's energy, there's excitement," Coach Jon Cooper said of the trio. "They're not prepping the same way as some of the guys that have been in the league for a while. But they were great.”
Bolts Comeback Falls Short in Third Period
The Bolts' momentum fell flat at the start of the third period, as Florida opened on the power play after a Nikita Kucherov penalty ended the second.
Outshooting the Lightning 4-0 in the first four minutes of the period, Hunter St. Martin put the Panthers back out in front on a backhanded shot at the 4:21 mark.
Harkins then tied it up for the Bolts again at 5:29 when he collected a rebound to score on Kirill Gerasimyuk, who replaced Black at the start of the third period.
“It's lots of fun to score," Harkins said. "I had a blast out there today, and the fans were great, and it's really cool to be out there on this side. It's always an electric barn!”
Unfortunately, Reinhardt would score the game-winner moments later. Sandis Vilmanis would add an insurance goal with an empty-netter with less than a minute to play.
Despite the loss, several positives emerged for players still looking to find a place on the roster for next week's regular season.
"You're kind of looking at everything...Everybody's in different situations," Cooper said. "There's a group of guys out there that this is their last exhibition game, and you just want to make sure that they're on it, and there's a group of other guys that are really fighting to make the team and that have another game left."
Tampa Bay still needs to dial in the power play. The Lightning were 0-for-4 on the power play, including a near two-minute 5-on-3 advantage. They are 0-for-9 for the preseason.
"My thing is, are they trying to do the right things? Are they competing hard? And after that, the rest is just prepping yourself," Cooper reiterated. "When I look at it as a whole, again, I don't sit here and look at the final score...Everybody is different in how they prepare for game one of the regular season. It's just, it's a different mindset."
"So as a coach, you don't want to get in their way. You've just got to make sure you've got them dialed in come October 1."
Three Stars of the Game
Cole Reinhardt, Florida. Scored the game-winner and added a key assist to open a two-goal lead early.
Jansen Harkins, Tampa Bay. Two goals, six hits, and 4-of-7 from the faceoff dot.
Conor Geekie, Tampa Bay. Geekie adds another goal, continuing to build confidence every game.
Up Next
Tampa Bay heads to Sunrise to face Florida on Saturday for the final preseason game before rosters are announced on Monday. Puck drop is at 6 pm.
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