Maine Hockey Journal

Lightning down Panthers in preseason action

Former University of Maine goaltender Ben Bishop stopped all 18 shots he faced in his first game since the 2015 Stanley Cup Final as his Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Florida Panthers 4-1 in a preseason game at Amalie Arena on Friday.

The Panthers drop to 2-2-0 during the postseason while the Lightning earns their first win.

Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov scored twice, the game’s first goal at 12:29 of the first period and at 12:26 of the second period to make it 4-0.

Erik Condra and Matthew Peca scored for the Lightning in the second period. Vladislav Namestnikov had two assists.

The Panthers’ lone goal came from forward Vincent Trocheck, who scored a power-play goal at 9:05 of the third period.

Bishop, who tore his groin in Game 2 of the Cup Final but missed one start the rest of the series, played 29:35 before being relieved by Kristers Gudlevskis, who made 17 saves.

Florida goalie Al Montoya made 25 saves.

The Lightning were 0-for-5 on the power play; the Panthers were 1-for-4.

Cumberland native Brian Hart, Tampa Bay’s 2012 second round (#53 overall) draft pick, was a healthy scratch.

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