The Tampa Bay Lightning wrapped up the best preseason in franchise history on Saturday with a game that might have left the seats in the penalty boxes warm at Amerant Bank Arena.

Tampa Bay allowed two power-play goals and another at 4-on-4 in the first period of a 7-0 loss to the Florida Panthers. The Lightning end the preseason with a 6-1-0 record.

The regular season opens on Oct. 9 when the Ottawa Senators visit Benchmark International Arena in Tampa.

“In preseason we try to go out and get ready for the season,” forward Oliver Bjorkstrand said, “and I just thought we battled hard.”

Tampa Bay rested much of its expected opening night lineup for Saturday’s game, which saw the teams combine for 312 penalty minutes and 14 players removed from the game due to misconduct penalties. That combined penalty minute total would rank inside the top 10 all-time among regular season games in NHL history.

Saturday’s physicality followed a Thursday game in Tampa in which the same teams combined for 186 penalty minutes in a 5-1 Tampa Bay win.

“The two Florida teams have had a lot of success in this league the last six years, and I think anybody that’s been a part of this rivalry would probably look at this box score and probably A) not be surprised and B) be like ‘ I can’t believe it’s taken this long for something like that to happen.’ It’s two extremely proud franchises, and the boys played with their hearts on their sleeves,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said postgame.

Florida scored two power-play goals in the first period and added another at 4-on-4 before scoring two more on the man advantage in the middle frame. Florida finished with six power-play goals in the win, while the Lightning penalty kill erased 13 Florida power plays.

Forward Dominic James led Tampa Bay with 27:01 of time on ice.

Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made his preseason debut on Saturday, stopping 20 Florida shots on goal, including six of seven at even strength. Vasilevskiy’s appearance came after he missed some time in training camp due to injury, and Cooper said the Lightning got everything they hoped to see.

“Take away the special teams, take away the score. We didn’t care about that,” Cooper said. “To us, it was, how did he feel? How was his conditioning and everything? And it was all great. He’s on track and where he wants to be.”

Tampa Bay also got a look at newest training camp addition goaltender Pheonix Copley, who made 11 saves on 12 shots after he took over for the third period. Copley was claimed by Tampa Bay via waivers from the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.

Tampa Bay’s focus now turns to the regular season as the Lightning seek to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a ninth straight season.

Benjamin’s Three Stars:

Evan Rodrigues, FLA (3 Goals, Assist)

Eetu Luostarinen, FLA (4 Assists)

Sergei Bobrovsky, FLA (15 saves)