Lightning’s Nick Paul logs 2 power-play goals vs. Nashville Predators

TAMPA — It always takes a certain type of player to be able to play alongside stars. And going into this season, the Lightning’s vaunted top power-play unit needed to replace the net front position that was left empty by Alex Killorn’s departure.

During the preseason, the Lightning experimented with Anthony Cirelli there, then decided on third-line center Nick Paul to fill the void.

For a team opening the season with so many new faces and experimenting with different pieces, you can’t expect easy fixes.

But positioning Paul on the power play surrounded by elite talent like Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman and Mikhail Sergachev, he seemed to fit in perfectly during the regular-season opener.

Paul scored two power-play goals — creating chaos in the crease with his 6-foot-2, 229-pound body — including the eventual game-winner in the Lightning’s 5-3 victory over the Predators on Tuesday at Amalie Arena.

“When you’re with good players, you just try and get them the puck,” Paul said. “And then my job is just stay in there, take the goalie away and then the trash in front, put it in. Just got to keep it going and build confidence.”

The Lightning’s early puck drop — they were the first game of a nationally-televised triple-header — officially kicked off the 2023-24 NHL season. Hours before, players entered the arena on a blue carpet lined by fans and Big Boi, one half of the Atlanta hip-hop duo Outkast, played a bass-thumping pregame concert in Thunder Alley.

“Wow, when I pulled up there, I was actually doing an interview before and kind of caught myself staring at that blue carpet,” said forward Brandon Hagel, who gave the Lightning a 3-2 lead when he converted a penalty shot 3:07 into the third period. “I think I was a little bit more nervous than other people out there.”

After a dominating first period in which the Lightning outshot the Predators 12-2 and allowed just seven shot attempts, the game shifted momentum in the second period. And 11 seconds into the third, the Lightning found themselves down 2-1 after Nashville forward Juuso Parssinen slipped past the defense and scored a go-ahead goal.

That’s when Paul stood steady in front of the net and pounced on a rebound of Stamkos’ shot from the left circle as goalie Juuse Saros slid out of the crease, tying the score 2:25 into the period.

“There is a skill-set you have to have but the skill-set is also part mental,” coach Jon Cooper said of playing with the star power on the Lightning’s power-play unit. “The fact that Paulie has been with us for a while and he’s watched the dynamics of how everything goes through, I think it’s really helped him … Those guys know what they’re doing together and so Paulie’s stepped in there and done a heck of a job.”

Hagel’s penalty shot gave the Lightning a one-goal lead at the 3:07 mark, but Nashville’s Tommy Novak beat Lightning goaltender Jonas Johansson shortside above his blocker to tie it at 3-all on the power play.

Paul then found the puck at his feet skating in front of the crease when Saros stopped Sergachev’s shot from the high slot with a pad save. Off balance, Paul swiped the puck past Saros in traffic for the winner midway through the third for a 4-3 lead.

“Just a big body,” Point said of Paul on the power play. “I thought all through training camp and the exhibitions, he was great in that spot and then tonight, no different, using his body, getting those rebounds and putting them in, it’s awesome. Big for us.”

“That’s what you call money-makers,” Hagel said of Paul’s goals.

Paul actually wasn’t pleased with his play on the power play early, struggling to mesh with the unit entering the offensive zone.

Scoring twice certainly helped his confidence. Four of his 17 goals came on the power play in 80 games last season while with the second unit, but he went the final 40 regular-season games without a power-play goal and scored just two total over that stretch. This year, he had big skates to fill in the departed Killorn, who had scored 22 man-advantage goals over the past four seasons, most of them from the net-front position.

“I’ve just got to make better plays, because you don’t want the puck going all the way down the ice, but that’s just growing pains,” Paul said.

Johansson, playing his first game as the starter with goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (back) out for the first two months, made 28 saves, including four in the final 2:22 when Nashville pulled Saros to bring on an extra attacker. Kucherov filled an empty net with 1.8 seconds remaining on a feed from Paul to close out scoring.

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