Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

‘A good start’ -- Stamkos stands out in preseason debut

Tampa Bay Lightning v New York Islanders

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 01: Steven Stamkos #91 of the Tampa Bay Lightning skates against the New York Islanders at the Barclays Center on November 1, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Lightning defeated the Islanders 6-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Getty Images

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.

“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.”