Yesterday, one of the slowest days in professional sports, was a little box of sunshine for hockey fans as the NHL released the 2026-27 season. It’s that wonderful time of year where every fanbase thinks their team’s schedule is the most unfair and yet more proof that the league hates them. For the first time since the 1993-94 season, the Lightning will play 84 regular season games with 42 happening in the friendly confines of the Benchmark International Arena (that is still the name right?).
The two extra games this season will be divisional games which now lets them play each Atlantic Division team four times (2 home, 2 away) meaning that 29.3% of their regular season games will be in-division play. However, they don’t take on a “rival” until early November when they host the Detroit Red Wings on November 3rd. As for the Governor’s Cup Battle, they head to Sunrise on November 28th and December 26th, and host the Panthers on February 16 and March 23. That final meeting will be part of a stretch where the Lightning finish the regular season with nine out of thirteen games against the Atlantic.
There are 13 back-to-back’s this season with just one featuring both games at The Bench (yeah, that’s still not a thing) as Dallas and Colorado are in town on February 12 and 13. At least that leaves Valentine’s Day open for y’all to celebrate with your significant others. Eight of the back-to-backs have both games on the road while four are split home-and-away back-to-backs. Definitive proof that the NHL hates the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The end of the season contains one of those road back-to-backs as Tampa Bay finishes things out with a stretch of six games in ten days in March, with nine of those against potential playoff teams. After a home game against Columbus on April 1, they play on the road in Boston, then a back-to-back in Buffalo and New Jersey, before closing things out with home games against Montreal and Boston. Much like last season, playoff seeding will likely be determined over the last week of games.
Yes, there are a couple of odd start times thrown in with the usual late-night games and weekend matinees. The Bolts host Montreal on New Year’s Eve, well New Year’s Eve afternoon at 2:00 PM on a Thursday. There are two Monday matinees games. One is in Boston on January 18 and the other is in Washington on March 15. No, it’s not an Ides of March celebration, rather it’s part of the NHL’s initiative to expand their European presence. The league announced that they would have a “steady stream of Monday matinee / European primetime games” throughout the season. It’s going to be interesting to see how local fans react to the early start times in regards to attendance.
Your late-night viewing schedule starts relatively early in the year as the Bolts head Vegas (10:30 pm), Colorado (9:00 PM), and Utah (9:00 PM) from October 20 to the 24. They have four days off to recover from that road trip. Their next western conference trip doesn’t happen until January when they take on Seattle (9:40 PM), Vancouver (9:00 PM), Calgary (3:30 PM), and Edmonton (8:30 PM). Unlike in past seasons, the California trip doesn’t happen in January, rather it’s in March this year as they take on L.A., Anaheim, and San Jose from the 3rd until the 6th before ending the road trip in Chicago.
Four is the magic number for road trips this season as that’s the longest stretch of games the Bolts will play away from Benchmark. December and March have the most road games with 8, while November has the most home games, also 8. December and March are also their busiest months as the Lightning will play 15 times in December and 14 in March. Outside of the four-day break in October, the only other long stretch of inactivity happens during the All-Star Break when they are off from February 4 to 11.
If you’re looking to hit up a Lightning game when you’re in Tampa, November 14-27 and February 12-23 are your best bets as they have season long six-game home stands over those two stretches.
With the season not compressed due to an international event, there are more two or three day breaks sprinkled into the schedule. That should benefit a slightly older team like the Lightning, and should help prevent the weariness that seemed to permeate their play at the end of the 2025-26 season.
The Bolts have a chance to get their season started on the right track as they open on the road against the New York Rangers on October 1. Then they are back on friendly ice for five of their next seven games with their games against Philadelphia and Minnesota as the only 2026 playoff teams that they face. They do have a somewhat important early season stretch where they take on the Sabres, Hurricanes, and Senators at home before heading on the road to Florida, Montral, and Ottawa. That six-game stretch from November 22 to December 5 should be a good measuring stick for the team and could be an early tipping point to see if changes need to be made on the roster.
Your video tribute games:
Declan Carlile – December 12 (Pittsburgh)
Corey Perry – January 26 (Los Angeles)
Mitchell Chaffee – January 30 (New York Islanders)
Nick Paul and Darren Raddysh – February 20 (Toronto)
Oliver Bjorkstrand – March 17 (New York Rangers)
The Hey That Guy on the Other Team is Pretty Good Games
October 3, November 17 – Alex Ovechkin
November 19 – Connor McDavid
December 12 – Sidney Crosby
February 18 – Leo Carlsson – the highest paid player in the league!
February 20, March 30 – Gavin McKenna
February 23 – Macklin Celebrini
It’s going to be a long grind of a season. Hopefully it’s a fun one.
