The Tampa Bay Lightning’s quest to never lose again got off to a good start as they took down the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-1, to kick off their preseason slate of games. Goals from Emil Lilleberg (!) and Mitchell Chaffee (on the power play) proved to be enough as Jonas Johansson stopped 30 of 31 shots. The dastardly Logan Stankoven broke up the shutout with a power play goal in the third period.
It was a roster comprised mostly of players fighting for roles on the team (along with some junior-eligible prospects) that went up to Raleigh to pick up the victory. The game started with the following line combinations:
Conor Geekie – Jack Finley – Mitchell Chaffee
Dylan Duke – Gabriel Szturc – Ethan Gauthier
Aiden Foster – Ethan Czata – Marco Mignosa
Wojeiech Stachiowiak – Jakob Pelletier – Boris Katchouk
JJ Moser – Steven Santini
Emil Lilleberg – Simon Lundmark
Jan Golicic – Everett Baldwin
The Goals:
Emil Lilleberg (Mitchell Chaffee, Conor Geekie)
"SCORREEE!!! LILLEBERG as time expires!" Emil Lilleberg with the first goal of our 2025-26 (pre)season! #TBLvsCAR 🎧: boltsaud.io/live 🎙️: 102.5 The Bone
— Lightning Audio Network (@boltsradio.bsky.social) September 22, 2025 at 8:29 PM
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Mitchell Chaffee (J.J. Moser, Connor Geekie) Power Play
"Takes a shot, SCORREEE!!!" 🗣️ Chaffee gets a deflection goal off a Moser shot to double the lead! #TBLvsCAR 🎧: boltsaud.io/live 🎙️: 102.5 The Bone
— Lightning Audio Network (@boltsradio.bsky.social) September 22, 2025 at 8:43 PM
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The Bolts are back in action tonight in Nashville. Will update with the roster once it’s posted. Expect a couple of more veterans to trickle into the line-up.
Hockey News
Observations from our first look at the power play [Tampa Bay Times]
At practice the first unit was Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Jake Guentzel, and Victor Hedman. The second unit was Brandon Hagel, Yanni Gourde, Anthony Cirelli, Gage Goncalves, and Darren Raddysh.
Who is the team to beat in the Atlantic? [Bet MGM]
The oddsmakers at Bet MGM have the Lightning at +270 to win the division and +1400 to win the Stanley Cup. Brian Foisy is not a believer despite the Bolts having the second-best odds to win the division behind the Panthers (+155) claiming that “the league has passed the Lightning by”. Cut it out and put it on the “Nobody Believes in the Bolts but the Bolts” bulletin board.
NHL Preview: Predicting each team from worst to first [The Athletic]
The kids over at The Athletic start their season preview counting up to the best team in the league (in their estimation). The bottom five teams were the first to be previewed.
Which NHLers could become first-time 50-goal scorers in 2025-26 [Daily FaceOff]
Jake Guentzel makes the list. Look, if we have to use the phrase “Wakey, Wakey Eggs and Jakey” 50 times this season we’re going to be happy. If he stays healthy, there is no reason he can’t top his career-high of 41 from last season.
Andrea Doan to serve as chair to bring NHL back to Arizona [AZ Central]
Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chair Tom Galvin has assembled an Avengers-like group of community, business, political, and sports leaders to explore the possibility of bringing the NHL back to Arizona. Chairing the group will be Andrea Doan, the wife Shane Doan.
One player to get excited about for every NHL team [Bleacher Report]
Personally, we’re excited for all of the Lightning players, but BR took the easy way out by picking Nikita Kucherov. Granted, he is pretty exciting and should be in the running for the Art Ross Trophy once again.
