On Tuesday, October 10th, the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Nashville Predators. This is the Lightnings first game of the National Hockey League (NHL) season. All hockey teams want to start the season off right, so it was vital the lightning have a good start to the season. In the first period, Nikita Kucherov scored a goal about 10 minutes in, scoring the first goal of the Lightnings season. In the beginning of the second period, Tampa Bay had 13 shots on goal, Nashville only 2. With 3 minutes and 45 seconds left in the second period, Ryan O’Reilly scored, tying the game. Moving into the third period, Filip Forsberg scored giving the Predators a 2-1 lead, eleven seconds into the third period. With the puck dancing around the goal, Brayden Point tapped the puck into the goal, once again tying the game, score now 2-2. With 17 minutes left in the 3rd period, Brandon Hagel earned a penalty shot. He scored! With the shot made, the lightning where now in the lead. With Nashville on a power play, the predators score, once again tying the game. Then, just two minutes later, the Tampa Bay Lightning scored, leading the game once again. With only 10 seconds remaining in the game, The Predators decided to pull their goalie, adding an extra player (making the net empty.) Kucherov takes the puck and scores on an empty net. The first game of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s season came out as a win. Jay Whitten, (27′) Goalie for the Tampa Bay Jr Lightning travel team. I asked Whitten about his reactions and thoughts to the game. While watching the game, Whitten states that “I thought the Lightning were going to win. It was our home opener, which is the first home game of a season for any team, and the predators aren’t great” Whitten’s reaction to the game was that he was happy, because they had won. He also stated that “I
wanted the lightning to win.”