TAMPA, Fla. — Ready for some hockey? The Tampa Bay Lightning's regular season schedule has been revealed.
The Bolts will open the season on the road with their first game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Oct. 11. The team will come back to Tampa the next day for the home opener. They will play six of their first 10 games on home ice at Amalie Arena. But, fans may want to mark their calendars for one game in particular.
Steven Stamkos will return to Amalie Arena on Oct. 28 when the Bolts play the Nashville Predators.
That will be the first game the Lightning play against their former captain, who signed a 4-year, $32 million deal with the Predators. He was the all-time leader in games, goals and points for the Lightning. He is also a 7-time NHL All-Star, one of 18 players in NHL history to record at least seven 40-goal seasons and is one of four active skaters with at least two 50-goal campaigns.
The Lightning will see Stamkos again on Nov. 29 in Nashville.
Tampa Bay will play all NHL teams at least twice during the 82-game schedule. They will take on each team in their division four times except the Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens. Those two specific teams will go up against the Lightning three times. The Lighting will play opponents from the Metropolitan Division three times each and battle each Western Conference team twice.
Tampa Bay will play the newest NHL franchise, the Utah Hockey Club, on March 22.
There will be 41 games at home and another 41 on the road, including five consecutive games at Amalie from Jan. 28 to Feb 6. The Bolts will play a total of 12 back-to-back matchups with only one set at Amalie, which is the Dec. 28 game against the New York Rangers and the Dec. 29 game against the Montreal Canadiens.
The Lightning will be especially busy in January and March, playing a total of 15 games during those months.
The team announced their preseason matchups in June, which consists of seven games with three at home. The first game will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24 inside Amalie Arena against Carolina. You can view the full preseason schedule here. You can view the full regular season schedule here.
