TAMPA, Fla. — The Lightning know they can’t replace Nikita Kucherov, but they do know what it’s like to win without their top player.
In their first game this season without the star forward, who is sidelined on long-term injured reserve with an apparent lower body injury, the Lightning had their chances against the Panthers on Tuesday night at Amalie Arena.
They played a frantically-paced matchup that was absent of the typical fisticuffs with their state rival, but the Lightning clearly missed Kucherov in the 4-1 loss.
When Kucherov missed all of the last regular season while recovering from hip surgery, the Lightning had the preseason to get used to playing without him. This time, at the start of the season, it appears they might need some time to find their footing.
There are few better playmakers on the power play positioned along the half wall as Kucherov, and without him, the Lightning were 0-for-6 with the man advantage. That included a first-period power play with a 5-on-3 man advantage for 1:34. The Lightning had four shots, but couldn’t score.
After going scoreless for the first two periods and trailing 1-0, Brayden Point — Tampa Bay’s leading goal scorer last regular season — tied it with a slap shot from above the right circle. Point’s shot, which came 2:36 into the final period, went through three Panthers skaters and past goaltender Spencer Knight top shelf for his first goal of the season.
Point’s goal came right after Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made a tremendous blocker save on Panthers forward Kevin Connauton as he approached the near post.
The Panthers responded quickly with Aleksander Barkov’s go-ahead tally 64 seconds later, cleaning up a loose puck in the paint that former Lightning forward Carter Verhaeghe tapped to Barkov inside the far post for a backdoor goal.
Florida rookie Anton Lundell added an insurance goal, his first NHL score, on a give-and-go with Sam Reinhart, fading away into the right dot and rifling a wrister past Vasilevskiy with 6:41 left in the third. Anthony Duclair’s empty-netter with 2:06 left provided the final margin.
