TAMPA - The Tampa Bay Lightning opened the 2026 NHL preseason with a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators Sunday at Benchmark International Arena, with offseason additions Ilya Mikheyev and John Carlson making immediate impacts and a perfect 6-for-6 penalty kill anchoring the win.
Mikheyev, signed to a four-year contract July 1, wasted no time justifying the investment. The winger deflected a point shot from Carlson just 93 seconds into the game to put Tampa Bay ahead. “When you score, the team scores in the first few shifts, it’s good for confidence as a team and helps you feel confidence right away,” Mikheyev said.
Nashville tied the game in the seventh minute when Brady Martin beat the defense at the blue line and buried a shot at the bottom of the faceoff circle. The Lightning reclaimed the lead late in the first period on a goal by 22-year-old Conor Geekie, who fired through the glove of Predators goalie Juuse Saros from the high slot after Sam O’Reilly pressured a Nashville player into a turnover. “I just saw the puck go up there, tracked back hard, tried to go stick on puck, and I got a stick on it,” O’Reilly said. “Then thankfully Geeks was right there and made no mistake.”
O’Reilly won six of his eight faceoffs - a 75% clip - and paired with Mikheyev as Tampa Bay’s primary penalty kill duo. Mikheyev led all Lightning forwards with 3:57 of shorthanded ice time; O’Reilly logged 3:35. Coach Jon Cooper praised O’Reilly’s faceoff work specifically: “It was great because when they had the faceoffs on the right side, he won them.”
Carlson, another 2026 free agent signee, skated on the top defensive pairing alongside JJ Moser and led all Tampa Bay skaters with 21:56 of ice time. Andrei Vasilevskiy, making his preseason debut in goal, was rarely tested, finishing with 12 saves on 13 shots faced.
With a shorter training camp and fewer preseason games this year, Cooper dressed much of the expected opening-night roster alongside younger prospects. Second-round draft picks Ethan Czata and Oleg Kulebiakin both saw action, as did O’Reilly, who centered a line with Benjamin Rautiainen and Geekie. “Some of these kids, you’re going to get to watch play some of these games,” Cooper said. “You’ve got to put them in these situations and see what they can do and see where they can excel, and I thought he was excellent all the way around.”
Cooper offered a broadly positive assessment of the roster’s debut. “I’m not going to be able to poke holes in too many guys’ games tonight,” he said. “Everybody, you ask them to do the job, they passed the test.”
Tampa Bay and Nashville meet again Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET in Nashville for preseason game two.