Bolts can't hold lead, lose preseason opener to Dallas

The Tampa Bay Lightning got the preseason off to a rough start, blowing a third-period lead before falling in a shootout 4-3 to the Dallas Stars.

Todd Fedoruk and Brett McLean scored second-period goals for the Lightning while Blair Jones scored 5:55 into the third. Antero Niittymaki stopped 15 shots in two periods before giving way to rookie Jaroslav Janus, who stopped 10 of 11 shots in the third period plus overtime and 2-for-3 in the shootout.

"I think there was some nervousness from some guys the first 10 minutes, but we settled down and started coming a little bit," Lightning coach Rick Tocchet said. "But basically you just want to see guys in different situations and want to find out who can handles those situations."

Former Lightning center Brad Richards had the only goal in the shootout.

After Tampa Bay missed on a pair of power-play opportunities early, the Stars jumped on the board first with a power-play goal by James Neal at 9:28 of the first period, which was the Stars' second shot on goal of the game. Richards scored another power-play goal with 1:09 left in the first period.

LW Todd Fedoruk scored for the Lightning 5:45 into the second period after Brett McLean chipped a puck out of the zone. Fedoruk raced past Matt Niskanen and hung onto the puck until he was able to lift a shot over Marty Turco.

McLean, in camp on a tryout, tied the score at 2 on the power play with 28.2 seconds left for his second point of the game. After Jones put Tampa Bay ahead, James Neal tied it with 3:14 left.

QUICK RETURN: New Lightning associate coach Rick Wilson wasted no time making his way back to a place he called home for 15 years.

Wilson spent 16 seasons as part of the Stars' organization, including all 15 seasons the franchise has played in Dallas. His first game behind Tampa Bay's bench came against his former team.

"Ironic, that's the only word I can think of," Wilson said before Wednesday's game. "I try not to think about it too much, the number of games and the amount of time I spent here, because at the same time you have to be focused on what we have to do here where I am still learning the players and figuring these guys out as we are try to evaluate them all. There is some great competition going on for spots here."

NEW ADMIRALS: Tampa Bay named former NHL defenseman Jim Johnson as associate coach for the Norfolk Admirals, the Lightning's American Hockey League affiliate. The team also named Leigh Mendelson as assistant coach and J.W. Aiken equipment manager.

Johnson, who has been working with the Lightning's prospects since the summer, played 13 seasons in the NHL with Pittsburgh, Dallas, Washington and Phoenix. Johnson also spent time with USA Hockey as an assistant coach with the World Junior Championships from 2000-02.

NUTS AND BOLTS: Former Dallas C Jeff Halpern, D David Hale and LW Brandon Bochenski all served as alternate captains for Wednesday's game. ... Today's practice will be split into two groups, with the first on the ice at the St. Pete Times Forum at 10:30 a.m. and the second group at 12:30 p.m. ... The next round of cuts from camp could come as soon as today. ... Scrappy C Zenon Konopka engaged in a fight with Luke Gazdic on his first shift, two minutes, 32 seconds into the game.

Erik Erlendsson