3 least impressive Tampa Bay Lightning players from 5-4 Opening Night loss to Ottawa Senators ft. Andrei Vasilevskiy

The Tampa Bay Lightning got off on the wrong foot in their Opening Night game against the Ottawa Senators. The Bolts blew a 3-1 lead to drop their first game of the season 5-4 at the Benchmark International Arena in Tampa.

The Lightning got two goals from Nikita Kucherov, with Oliver Bjorkstrand (PPG) and Brayden Point adding the others. Shane Pinto had two goals for the Senators, with Artem Zub, Dylan Cozens (PPG), and Claude Giroux scoring for Ottawa. Brady Tkachuk had three assists on the night.

So, here’s a look at the three least impressive Tampa Bay Lightning players from their 5-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.

3 least impressive Tampa Bay Lightning players from 5-4 loss to Ottawa Senators

#3 Emil Lilleberg

The Tampa Bay Lightning blueliner had a rough night. In over 19 minutes of ice time across 20 shifts, Emil Lilleberg struggled to hold the Senators back.

In particular, Dylan Cozens’ power play goal was hardly flattering for the young defenseman. Here’s a look at the tally:

Brady Tkachuk played Lilleberg like a fiddle. Tkachuk eventually found an open Cozens who buried the one-timer for the Sens’ first goal of the game.

Lilleberg also showed off his tough side, getting into a fight with Donovan Sebrango. The overall effort from Lilleberg was commendable, but not quite what the Bolts needed from their blue line.

#2 Darren Raddysh

Darren Raddysh was another struggling blueliner for the Tampa Bay Lightning. He ended the night a minus-1 in 17:33 minutes of ice time. He saw action in 24 shifts, nothing two shots on goal.

But it was his role in this goal by Shane Pinto that encapsulated the rough outing for Raddysh. Here’s a look at the goal:

Senators’ blueliner Artem Zub launched a long stretch pass that split the Lightning D and found a streaking Pinto. Raddysh was caught flat-footed, and unable to catch up. He tried to hamper Pinto on the play, but to no avail.

Pinto made a nifty move on Vasilevskiy for the goal. Had Raddysh not been caught unawares on the play, he may have prevented the goal. The play resulted in a goal instead, much to the chagrin of Tampa coach Jon Cooper.

#1 Andrei Vasilevskiy

Former Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy did not have his best night. While he made 29 saves on 33 shots, he failed to impress on a couple of instances.

Here’s one particular situation:

Zub’s point shot got through cleanly as there was no traffic in front of Vasilevskiy. The Lightning netminder lost sight of the puck as it hit the post. The puck landed behind him and sat there. It trickled in slowly as Vasilevskiy tried to locate the shot.

The Senators exploited Vasilevskiy’s slow reactions on several occasions, leading to the comeback win.

The Lightning will need to turn things around as they take on the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night at home.

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Edited by Nestor Quixtan