Game Nine: Nashville Predators (3-5-0) at Tampa Bay Lightning (5-3-0)
Time: 7:30 PM EST
Location: Amalie Arena
TV/Stream/Radio: ESPN+, Hulu, 102.5 FM
Odds: Lightning -135
Is there anything else we need to talk about tonight? Steven Stamkos is going to be skating on the ice in Tampa in a uniform other than the Lightning’s. We can talk about game plans, and 5-on-5 metrics, but all anyone really cares about is the return of The Captain.
It’s going to be weird. We know it’s going to be weird. It’s going to be emotional. It was emotional when all of the others came back. Ondrej Palat. Ryan McDonagh (kind of awkward now). Alex Killorn. Tyler Johnson. All of those videos brought a tear to our eye, right? Roll all of those into one and multiply it by a thousand. That’s what we’re getting tonight.
This is the tribute video we never expected to see, right? The video we’ll see tonight was supposed to be played at his retirement ceremony, with his number being raised to the rafters, not some random Monday in October that’s going to be streamed on ESPN+. Yet, here we are.
It is nice that it’s happening early in the season. It’s kind of like ripping a Band-Aid off. Get it done quickly. This way it’s not lingering out there in the future. We can say our good-byes and go about the next few seasons. At least until Julien BriseBois trades a first-round pick for him at the 2028 trade deadline and he comes back to help the Lightning win their fifth Stanley Cup (we can dream, right?).
While it is going to be weird, it’s also going to be fun. He’s brought us way more positive memories that can’t be washed away by what happened this summer. The Lightning aren’t where they are, one of the most respected franchises in sports, without his decade of leadership. So tonight is going to be a celebration wrapped around a hockey game.
That’s all we need it to be.
The Potential Lines:
Tampa Bay Lightning
Forward
Jake Guentzel – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Hagel – Anthony Cirelli – Conor Geekie
Mikey Eyssimont – Nick Paul – Mitchell Chaffee
Zemgus Girgensons – Luke Glendening – Cam Atkinson
Defense
Victor Hedman – JJ Moser
Ryan McDonagh – Erik Cernak
Emil Lilleberg – Nick Perbix
Goaltender
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Nashville Predators Potential Lines
Forwards
Filip Forsberg – Ryan O’Reilly – Jonathan Marchessault
Steven Stamkos – Tommy Novak – Gustav Nyquist
Mark Jankowski – Colton Sissons – Luke Evangelista
Zachary L’Heureux – Michael McCarron – Cole Smith
Defense
Roman Josi – Dante Fabbro
Jeremy Lauzon – Alexandre Carrier
Brady Skjei – Luke Schenn
Goaltender
Juuse Saros
