Last Night's Preseason Performers (Sep 27)

Rosters are starting to pare down to the nitty gritty and the last few players auditioning for jobs are out there doing just that.  In Philly, the Flyers needed overtime to beat the Rangers, 4-3, and it was Brian Elliott getting the full game in net for the Flyers, making 25 saves in this one.

Travis Konecny had the overtime winner and an assist, while Claude Giroux chipped in with a couple of helpers to lead the way offensively.  Don't think there is much doubt in these two heading into the regular season.

For the Rangers, David Desharnais solidified his spot a little bit more with a goal and an assist of his own.

The Columbus Blue Jackets welcomed the St. Louis Blues to town for a preseason romp and saw them off with a 5-2 thumping on Tuesday night.  Joonas Korpisalo was the winning goalie on the night, making only 19 stops against a fairly young Blues side, which was definitely auditioning for some of those last few bubble spots.

Oliver Bjorkstrand was the only Columbus skater to hit 2 points, as he had a couple of helpers in the win.  It will be interesting to see how he fares in a full NHL season this year.  He has some real potential to be a bargain pick, if you get him late enough.

It was a solid night for the Florida Panthers, as a few of their top guns came to play against their state rivals from Tampa Bay and they got to see Roberto Luongo, back 100% healthy and ready to play.  That all added up to a 4-2 decision for the home side, Luongo having to make 38 saves for the win, showing that he is ready to rock and roll.

Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov each came away with 3-point nights, while Vincent Trocheck returned from injury to chip in with a goal and an assist as well.  This is the kind of night that really can get a fan base's hopes up... isn't it Florida?

There does appear to be a fire lit underneath Kari Lehtonen in this preseason, as this is back-to-back starts for him that have gone very well, but I must remind you... it is the preseason.  Last night's game came against an auditioning bunch of Wild players in Dallas and it didn't seem to go too well for them, losing 4-1.  Lehtonen made 32 saves for the win and may have started to creep a little bit of doubt into the opening night starter for Dallas.

Tyler Seguin also appears to be on track, returning from his off-season shoulder surgery, scoring a pair of goals to lead the Stars offensively in this game.

Finally, the homecoming for the Vegas Golden Knights, their first game in the T-Mobile Arena, didn't go quite as well as they would have hoped, running into Jack Campbell and the Los Angeles Kings for their first game, losing the game 3-2 in overtime.  Campbell was the only notable player in the game, making 27 saves, beating the Knights back-up, Calvin Pickard for the honour.