Tomorrow, the Tampa Bay Lightning kick off their 2023-24 NHL season at 5:30 PM against the Nashville Predators. Unlike the last few seasons the opening ceremonies won’t be quite as long as there will be no banners to raise following the first round elimination in the playoffs last season. The game will be the first of nine contests they have in the season’s opening month. Let’s see what the rest of the month holds for them.
They have nine total games with six of them at Amalie Arena. After Tuesday’s game against the Preds, they head on the road for three games, all against division opponents. The first back-to-back is Saturday and Sunday as they take on Detroit and then Ottawa. The road trip wraps up in Buffalo. Then it’s home games against Vancouver, Toronto, Carolina, San Jose, and Seattle.
It’s not an overwhelmingly busy schedule as they only have the one back-to-back. They also have two three-off-day stretches, and a two days off following the Toronto game. There are no games on Tuesday or Friday and just one Sunday game. The game against the Maple Leafs is a nice Saturday night affair and they have no afternoon games.
The Bolts first five games are against teams that didn’t make the playoffs last year, and they only face three postseason teams from a year ago. Under normal (read a healthy Andrei Vasilevskiy in net) it would be a nice way to start the season and hopefully build up some points. Instead, it’ll be a decent test to see how some of their new defensive schemes and goaltending will hold up this season. Ottawa, Buffalo, Toronto, and Carolina in particular should stress their defense a bit, so we’ll find out fairly early if they’re up to the test.
Seeing some west coast teams on the schedule this early is nice, considering the Lightning posted a 7-0-0-1 against those four out-of-conference teams. The downside is that they went 5-7-0-1 against the Eastern Conference teams on their schedule this month.
It’s good to have hockey back in our lives.
Lightning / NHL News
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Five questions with Brandon Hagel [Tampa Bay Times]
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The man behind the camera [NHL.com]
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Leafs trade Sam Lafferty to Canucks [Bay Street Blues]
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Red Wings sign Zach Aston-Reese [Sportsnet]
Another veteran turned a PTO into a contract as Aston-Reese signed a one-year deal with Detroit. The 29-year-old signed a two-way deal with a NHL cap hit of $775,000 after spending last season with the Maple Leafs.
Josh Norris out indefinitely with shoulder injury [Daily Face Off]
Ottawa’s quest to return to the playoffs hit a roadblock as Josh Norris, their 24-year-old second-line center, is out due to a shoulder injury. It’s the same shoulder that required surgery last year and limited him to just 8 games. He’s a force when healthy, but has struggled to stay on the ice the last couple of seasons.
