NHL Preseason Highlights | Hurricanes vs. Lightning – September 26, 2025

time for them. Yeah, in fact, that starting five for Tampa Bay probably looks like the one we are likely going to see on October 9th here at home against the Ottawa Senators with Moser and Victor Hedman starting along the Blue Lines. We’ll get to the Goenders in just a moment as the Lightning dumping into the Carolina zone. Here’s the rookie Bradley Nau trying to break away for the Hurricanes. Last game you played here in the Tampa Bay area was the rookie tournament up in Wesley Chapel. Yeah, and he was showing extremely well, too. I really liked what Nadau could do for Carolina, but he got a taste of Dick for Headman on that last run. He’s a good defender and he’s very physical. He had 30 points last year at U Miss Minnesota. Minnesota indeed. Yes, this one goes into the corner. Closer plays it away. Gavanni Smith number 42 for Carolina cannot advance the puck. This one sent back into the games zone. In comes Kroch. closed quickly there on Beirut. They’re forced a turnover center there and they score. A great bit of hustle by this line of the Lightning forcing a turnover and it is going to be Zenit Gurgensson’s with a goal. One- nothing here. But this is what he does the best. He is a straight line player. He’s going to be third, fourth line, probably fourth line. Go to the net hard, know where to go. He has enough experience. He knows all that. He’s ready. He gets inside position. Dave Ruther, a defenseman up on the play. Here comes Borkstrand back in the other direction. Borkstrand came over around the trade deadline last season. Open man is Gurgensson. His shot rebound scores. Sun gets Gurgensson with his second goal of the game and he’s equal his entire season total tonight. He’s a machine. This is outstanding. You know, eight or 10 goal guy somewhere in that range, but two goals in the first period of the first game that he’s playing in here at home at Benchmark Arena. Outstanding stuff just shooting the puck against straight lines. The Lightning with good presence in front of the net. He was an associate coach last year in the American League and a very good team in Colorado. A scramble in front and Nipikov finds that one with a glove as we’ll be right back on Scripps Sports Live with the Lightning Nashville Predators game at 7:00. Join us for that one. And then the last three preseason games all against the Florida Panthers. Centered out in front and they score. That is Javanni Smith who took that nice pass to the corner. That was not on his stick long. He taps it home and makes it 2-1 in the lightning zone. But the puck goes around the wall and there’s where the turnover happens and that’s where you end up with players out of position because that was JJ Moser, I believe, who got dumped along the wall. So now he should have been in front of the net. Sakoak comes in and tries to help. 1 minute and 10 seconds remaining in that penalty against Gabriel Sto. And here is Nadau. Nau carries it in. Le Bank has got an assist. Johansson steers that aside to Max Grochev. Up through center ice. Here comes Braden Point. Point takes it wide. Burst is beat. Point is in andov makes the save. Sent around Lmark. Stooviaak puts it up the boards but turns it over. Here’s a chance in front and Johansson forced to make a save. Ped back in by Carolina out of the corner given goal play and Smith with a rapper on attempt. Great save by Johansson on the back door. Looks pretty good right now. Here’s a pass down low. Walk out move by Gensel and mysticov shuts the door. Here’s point back into the corner for Gensel. On the man advantage trailing by one. Here comes Tampa Bay up the ice. Gensel to Duke. There’s a shot and Mitsukov makes the save on Dominic James. Five seasons in the German league. Into the middle they go. There’s a shot. It’s blocked. Rebound. Save. Rebound. Scores. Power play goal. And congrats to Vortek Stiaak who gets a goal here in this preseason game. He played in the German league five plus years. He had 30 points last year, 10 goals and 20 assists and shoots it and gets his own rebound. That’s really good concentration and execution. Nothing fancy about it there, but coming in off the wing, that left hand shot on the right side, your sticks in the middle of the ice. Western Hockey League team last year went all the way to the Memorial Cup. They lost in the final game, but he was the WHL playoff MVP last Jillson trying to get his NHL career back on track. He missed an entire season due to personal mental health reasons. Here’s James. James in and Mystic fights that one off. It comes loose and it’s touching at the far side. This is going to be a goal for Grochev. But I’ll tell you what, Dominic James has been all over the place tonight. James is really impressive. Ever since that first day of camp where I kept going, who is this kid? We didn’t see him before. There’s the backhand pass that he made. And then Mythic shouldn’t have moved. That’s when for any goalender when you make a save and you don’t know where it is, don’t move. Well, he moved. So, James, we’ve told you originally a sixthround draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks. And here he comes again. And you know who loves moments like this, NHL debuts, even if it’s in the preseason, John Cooper. And I bet you he’ll have some good words about him after the game. out in front and it’s tucked in back door. Nice play and it got across to Gleb Trazov and he did not miss and he makes it a twogoal game again. I believe that was Robot. Yep. Robot coming in here. The backhand pass. We just saw one from James at one end of the ice. Ended up eventually in a goal and Robot holding on to it. Holding on to it. off stick down and he couldn’t tap that one home. Kati slides across and takes the shot and scores off the glove of Migan and in little bit of nerves there maybe for Menigan but and he’s going to shoot from that from that faceoff dot. Those ones are not supposed to go in. Menigan I think was really surprised see him look at his glove there but that’s a short side shot and here in this game but you’re so right Adam you got two sets of guys in these games the veterans trying to get in some knock some rust off and that one finds its way through the shot taken from the point by Moser and looks like soak gets the tip in front for his second goal of the game absolutely has happened right in front of us. You look at the replay there. Stooviaak with an excellent tip. He just goes to that area. He knows he’s partial screen. You got two Carolina defenders right in the screen and he gets a great high tip in the hash marks again. Get it up to the defense DD. It makes the goalenders have to shuffle sideways and it it makes them open everything up. They’re off. You can be all over a guy, but if you can’t nullify his stick, you’re in trouble. Yeah, that’s some of the some of the best defensive coaches, right? when they’re teaching you, you know, deep side, you’re doing drills in front of the net and goenders in practice. A lot of the times it is that that stick, you can be battling physically working harder than anybody in the ice and sweating and and uh but if you don’t tie up that stick, it could go in the net. Well, this one went in the net and they did not tie up the stick of Gonler who was right there the back door and he tipped one in. He had no shot at like this one here. Yeah, that’s right. And the lightning overload there. You got three guys going into the corner. So, they’re trying to put pressure. That’s just not the way you’re supposed to do it. He gets it free to Cutra. Goes back to Jake Gensel. Moser. Cutout steps in down low. Gensel back into the slot. Scores. Great puck movement. Finished off by Oliver Borkstrand. Yeah, we saw the flip-flopping of Bjorkstrand who was on the 11th Ren point. We’ve seen that throughout training camp. We’ve seen them exchange positions. So you don’t know exactly who you’re going to deal with there, but look at the hands here by Gensel. By Cooerov always, but he gets the puck down low to Gensel. And Gensel makes it look like he might come to the net. So he gets both players. Gurgensson is out of the box. It’s now a six on five. There’s the shot. It’s blocked into the corner. Back up top. Shot tipped. Oh, I thought that might have been in, but it was off the crossbar. And now they’re saying it is in the net with 10 seconds remaining on the clock. No whistle on the play. The referees, I guess, could still see it. And it’ll come loose to the right side there. Menigan with a good right pad save, but there just too many guys in white jersey and three blue jerseys on top of one white jersey. So that means the puck’s going to come loose and I think Nadau is the one who’s going to end up putting it in. It’s good hard work there against Giovanni Smith. He he gets he gets tackled there, but the puck’s not underneath the goalender. So that is going to be the second goal of the game for Javanni Smith as well as he joins Gurgensson. Pretty wild third period. A total of seven goals were scored as everybody got their money’s worth. For those who hung around, another pretty decent crowd for a preseason game on a Friday night. How about a three-point game for Voytech Stooviaak?

Zegmus Girgensons found the back of the net twice and Oliver Bjorkstrand had a goal and an assist to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning past the Carolina Hurricanes 6-5 in pre-season action.
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