NHL Notebook: Tampa Bay Lightning Remain Perfect in Preseason

-

By Mike Bonts, Florida Sports Wire

TAMPA - The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Nashville Predators 4-1 on Saturday night at Benchmark International Arena.

Mitchell Chaffee scored the eventual game-winning goal, coming on the power play at 4:27 of the second period to give the Lightning a 2-0 lead. Chaffee’s goal was his second of the preseason

Tampa Bay is now 4-0-0 in the preseason with three games left before the start of the regular season. The last time the Lightning opened the preseason 4-0-0 was the 2013-14 preseason. They have never opened a preseason with a 5-0-0 record.

Ozzy Wiesblatt scored the lone Nashville goal. Wiesblatt tipped in a Fedor Svechkov shot into the twine in his first preseason game 

Darren Raddysh scored the game-opening goal at 5:34 of the first period, marking his first goal of the preseason…He also picked up an assist on Hagel’s power-play marker...He rated +2 and led Bolts skaters for time on ice (22:20). Raddysh led all Lightning skaters for points with five (2-3—5) during the 2024 preseason.

Brandon Hagel made his first preseason appearance of 2025 and tallied a power-play goal and a power- play assist. Hagel posted 90 points for the Bolts last season (35-55—90).

Gage Goncalves scored an empty-net goal and added an assist for his first two points of the preseason (1-1—2). Goncalves played in 60 games for the Bolts last season and tallied eight goals and 20 points.

The Lightning were outshot 29-17, including a 14-6 deficit in the second period.

The Bolts return to action Tuesday night at Kia Center in Orlando to take on the Florida Panthers at 7 p.m.


Popular posts from this blog

Golf: Remembering Kathy Whitworth, the Game’s Greatest Winner

-
Image
  The golf world and the world in general lost one of its most incredible women with the passing of Kathy Whitworth yesterday. Kathy was a champion in the truest sense of the word, both on the golf course and off. In the short time I spent with Kathy, I was truly blown away by her and her approach to the game and to life. Her strength, insightfulness and vibrancy were obvious from the minute you met her! She inspired me as a young girl and now as the commissioner and I know she did the same for so many others. We all mourn with Bettye, her family and the entire golf world.” – LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan (From the LPGA) By Ron Sirak The dining room at Trophy Club Country Club near Flower Mound, Texas, gazes upon the rolling hills and old oak trees through which two courses meander, one named for the club’s most famous member, Kathy Whitworth, the other the lone design by the icon of Texas golf, Ben Hogan. Inside the dining room the wall opposite the windows appears at fi...
Read more

ReliaQuest Bowl Goes to LSU Tigers over Wisconsin Badgers, 35-31

-
Image
(Photo by Nancy Beecher/Florida Sports Wire)   TAMPA (Florida Sports Wire) - Garrett Nussmeier showed why LSU is confident he's capable of thriving as Jayden Daniels' successor. The 13th-ranked Tigers (10-3) launched the team's post-Daniels era with a 35-31, come-from-behind victory over Wisconsin in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Monday, with a calm Nussmeier leading a 98-yard drive to produce the winning touchdown in the closing minutes. "You do what you have to do to win the football game. It doesn't matter if you start from the 1, the 2 ... you just stick to the process play-by-play, move the chains, move the chains and put the ball in the end zone," the third-year sophomore said. "That doesn't just speak to me, it speaks to our entire group," Nussmeier added. "You can't do it by yourself. And to go 98 yards with the game on the line, that means a lot to me. To be the leader of the offense, that matters more." Stepping in to make his f...
Read more

DAYTONA 500: Byron uses instincts, luck to steer to improbable victory

-
Image
Jared C. Tilton (Getty Images) William Byron celebrates Sunday's Daytona on Victory Lane By Don Coble   DAYTONA BEACH – William Byron’s race-winning move started when the field stormed off the second turn on the final lap of the rain-delayed Daytona 500 Sunday night. As the leaders frantically jockeyed for position on the backstretch, the cars on the inside lane seemed the most out of control. He went for broke by moving next to the outside wall at the Daytona International Speedway. “I just trusted my instincts,” Byron said after becoming the first driver to win consecutive 500s since Denny Hamlin won in 2019-20. “I was getting in the third lane, regardless, because I was probably sixth coming out back.” As he expected, the inside turned into a high-speed game of bumper cars along the backstretch. Although cars were crashing and sliding in every direction, his Chevrolet darted through the carnage unscathed in an improbable rally that took him from ninth place to Victory Lane...
Read more