Lightning open season with 6-3 victory

Coming into the game, coach Guy Boucher and the Lightning players knew this would be an emotional game, playing in front of your homes fans for the first time in over nine months. It seemed at first the Lightning struggled to control the emotions, as they took two early penalties. But goalie Anders Lindback, in his first start with the Lightning stole the show early, turning aside every puck that came his way during the first two penalties. Still, the Lightning were being outshot 7-0 early and were clearly no at the top of their game. That changed when the Lightning got on the board, on their very first shot of the season, from a player who only had one goal all of last season, Eric Brewer. The Caps tied the game on yet another power play, but the Lightning took the lead right back when Lecavalier put home a rebound into a basically empty net.

The Capitals took the second period 2-1, but the 3rd period was utterly dominated by the Lightning, as they outscored the caps 3-0 in the period and outshot them 13-7 en route to a 6-3 lead. some notes from last nights game:

Eric Brewer put up two goals, surpassing his goal total from all of last season.

The Capitals peppered Anders Lindback with seventeen shots in the first period, and he turned away 16 of them, a save percentage of .941. The Capitals only managed thirteen shots over the final two periods combined. Lindback finished the game with a .900 save percentage.

Braden Holtby, who dazzled with a sub 2.00 GAA in the playoffs last year, managed a feeble .824 save percentage last night.

The above stat is a great indication of just how special this Lightning offense could be this year. They put in 6 against a great goalie, and their best scorer didnt even get one of the six. Imagine how good the offense will be when Stamkos gets going.

Which means a .900 save percentage should be just fine from Anders Lindback. A 3.00 GAA and .900 save percentage over an entire season should equal a lot of ones. Good news is I think Lindback will do even better than that. I really think this will be a special team.

The Lightning scored 3 power play goals on seven opportunities. After the Capitals got the first three power plays of the game, the Lightning were awarded with six straight before the Caps got their fourth and final one midway through the third.

Brian Lee and Ryan Malone were the only players with a minus in the Plus/Minus category. Lee a minus 2 and Malone a minus 1.

Teddy Purcell managed three assists, all in the third period.

Sami Salo led ice time for the Lightning with 22:23. John Carlson led for the Caps with 25:02. Ovechkin had 23:35

The Lightning outhit the Capitals 27-16.

What a great atmosphere at the forum last night. the Place was sold out, and it was loud, especially for a regular season game. Anyone who says Florida isnt a good hockey market can kiss my ass, you couldnt be more wrong.

I love Jeff Vinik, I love Guy Boucher, and I love this team. Im so excited for what this season has in store.

One thing well keep track of this year is the 3 stars. Third star is one points, second star 2 points, first star 3 points. three stars tonight
3. Conacher
2. Lecavalier
1. St Louis

Lets take a look at the Southeast standings
1. Florida Panthers: 2 points
2. Tampa Bay Lightning: 2 points
3. Washington Capitals: 0 points
4. Winnipeg Jets: 0 points
5. Carolina Hurricanes: 0 points

Technically the Panthers own the tiebreaker over the Lightning because of goal differential, but its just the first game, no big deal.