Welcome to this edition of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Stock Up and Stock Down, focusing on the Lightning’s first two exhibition games of the 2023-24 season.
The Tampa Bay Lightning kicked off the exhibition part of the 2023-24 season with back-to-back games on Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes (Sept. 26), followed by a contest on Wednesday against the Nashville Predators (Sept. 27). With the back-to-back contests, the Lightning consisted of two entirely different rosters for these games. Against the Hurricanes, they sent out their expected second and third lines of forwards, three of their regular defensemen, some other minor leaguers in camp, along with Syracuse Crunch goaltender Hugo Alnefelt. Against the Predators, expected fourth liners, along with the other minor leaguers, joined free agent signee Matt Tomkins in goal.
Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman, Mikhail Sergachev, and Andrei Vasilevskiy did not participate in either game. While not confirmed, it is expected that some of the players will hit the ice during the Lightning’s first exhibition game at home on Friday (Sept. 29).
In the first game, the Lightning fell to the Hurricanes by a score of 5-2. In the second game, they played a very inspired game and won an overtime contest 2-1 over the Predators, who played many of their regulars. Besides the win, the most telling stat line was that at the end of regulation, the Lightning had already blocked 33 shots, which was more than what they had done in any game played during the 2022-23 regular season.
Stock Up: Alex Barre-Boulet
As he has done throughout training camp, Alex Barre-Boulet skated on a line with Nick Paul and Tanner Jeannot. While the trio skated well in the loss to the Hurricanes, it was on the power play where the 26-year-old scored, courtesy of Darren Raddysh’s pass, the first goal of the Lightning preseason. If this chemistry continues throughout the preseason, Barre-Boulet will be starting the season in a Lightning sweater.
Stock Up: Conor Sheary
Playing in his first-ever game with the Lightning, Conor Sheary had a goal and an assist in the loss to the Hurricanes, skating on a line with Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli. Head coach Jon Cooper took note of Sheary’s performance in his postgame press conference. “As for Shears in his first game with us, he was great. I think it’s tough when you’re playing your first game, and Shears did a heck of a job.” Sheary’s early play gives hope that he can at least ease the pain of the offseason losses of Alex Killorn and Ross Colton.
It appears that the Lightning will get what they expected from the former two-time Stanley Cup champion as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sheary notched 15 goals, 37 points, and 154 shots on net in 82 games with the Washington Capitals last season before signing a three-year contract with the Lightning in July.
Stock Down: Hugo Alnefelt
Even though Cooper had mentioned that a few goals were caused by some key mistakes in front of him, Hugo Alnefelt still struggled a bit in the loss to the Hurricanes. All five goals came on 5-on-5 situations and on only 24 shots and 19 scoring chances. Hopefully, this was just a case of shaking off some rust, as the 22-year-old may have a chance to be part of the Lightning’s initial roster due to Vasilevskiy being out for two months due to back surgery.
Stock Up: Tyler Motte
Scoring the game-winning goal in overtime is a really good way to make a first impression with a new team, and Tyler Motte did just that in the win over the Predators. He also scored in a very impressive fashion with some nifty hand-eye coordination when he batted a rebound out of midair off a shot from Mikey Eyssimont. Motte was just recently signed after Josh Archibald informed the team that he would not be playing hockey in the 2023-24 season.
Stock Up: Matt Tomkins
Tomkins was outstanding in the win versus the Predators, especially in the third period when the Lightning had to kill off five out of six minor penalties just to force overtime. He finished the night with 30 saves on 31 shots, impressing Cooper in his first game in a Lightning sweater. “He stood in there. He was calm. He was poised. He didn’t look like anything was rattling him at all, especially when everything was buzzing around him in the third period. It was great to see that performance.”
This marks the return to North American professional hockey after two seasons spent abroad in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Tomkins was a 2012 seventh-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks and went to Sweden after a couple of seasons with the Hawks’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate in Rockford. The 29-year-old’s outstanding play in the SHL allowed him to take another shot at the NHL, and last night’s (Sept. 28) performance was a good first start to reaching that goal. It will be interesting to see if he can continue to play well and what the Lightning will do with him as a result of Vasilevskiy being out for two months.
Stock Up: Maxim Groshev
After an outstanding Rookie Showcase, Maxim Groshev scored the first goal for the Lightning against the Predators. The 22-year-old took a pass from Felix Robert and swiftly skated past two Predators defenders before rifling a shot past goaltender Juuse Saros for the score. He displayed the same relentless effort along with his outstanding skating in this game as he did in the showcase. He may start the season in Syracuse, but this kind of play will not keep him there for long.
Related: New Lightning Prospects Stand Out at Rookie Showcase
The next two Lightning exhibition games against the Hurricanes on Friday (Sept. 29) and Saturday (Sept. 30) against the Predators have taken on a whole new meaning with the news concerning Vasilevskiy. It will be interesting to see how the Lightning come out and play in these two games, even if they are just preseason contests. This will be one of the focuses of the next Stock Up and Stock Down article.
