TAMPA — Opening night.
It had pomp. It had circumstance. It had Andrei Vasilevskiy.
The Lightning is certainly glad about that last thing. Had it not been for the big Russian goalie, it would not have beaten the Panthers 2-1 in a shootout.
That's how Saturday night ended.
It started with the chant of "Let's go Lightning.'' It felt like a playoff game.
Speaking of which:
When do the playoffs start?
Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. There are 81 regular-season games left to be played.
But back to the playoffs.