The Tampa Bay Lightning and National Hockey League unveiled the 2018 All-Star Game logo Friday.
Far more importantly for the Bolts this evening was the return of their all-star center Steven Stamkos, as he made his preseason debut in what was his first game in 10 months.
His 2016-17 season was abruptly ended in the middle of November because of a knee injury and subsequent surgery, making it the second time in four years his regular season had been disrupted by a major injury.
It may still take a while before Stamkos feels truly comfortable coming back from this injury.But his performance on Friday proved to be a very promising start for No. 91, the Bolts and their fans in Tampa Bay.
He didn’t score, but he assisted on two first period goals, including a nice set-up to linemate Nikita Kucherov, and the Lightning beat the Nashville Predators by a score of 3-1. Stamkos also received a healthy dose of ice time, playing more than 19 minutes, including 5:32 on the power play.
His pass to Kucherov resulted in a power play goal.
Like he never left 🔥 #NSHvsTBL pic.twitter.com/TyqcQ8mw4x
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) September 23, 2017
“It was exciting to get out there, I was pretty anxious about it... It was a good start, something to build on,” said Stamkos afterward, per the Lightning. “It was nice to just go through a game day, I haven’t done it in a long time... I was glad with how the first one went.”