The Tampa Bay Lightning continued their successful start to the 2025-26 season as they picked up two more wins over the weekend. They christened Benchmark International Arena with a 6-5 win over Carolina on Friday, and then followed it up with a 4-1 win over Nashville on Saturday to run their pre-season record to 4-0.
Friday’s win was a little tougher than it should have been as the Hurricanes made it close after the Lightning had built a 4-1 lead thanks to two goals from Zemgus Girgensons (!), while Wojciech Stachowiak and Max Groshev found the back of the net. After Carolina scored the next two, Stachowiak scored his second of the night. Another goal from the Hurricanes made it a one-goal game before Oliver Bjorkstrand scored on the power play to make it 6-4. Bradley Nadeau scored with 12 seconds left in the game to make it a 6-5 final.
The five goals allowed was a bit of an anomaly for the Bolts this pre-season as they allowed just three goals in their first two games. Their defense (and goaltending) rebounded in Saturday’s games as they held Nashville to one goal on 29 shots in the 4-1 victory. Darren Raddysh, Mitchell Chaffee (power play), Brandon Hagel (power play), and Gage Goncalves (empty net) provided the offense for the victory.
As we’ve stated before, the results aren’t the important part of pre-season games. It’s how the players are performing on the ice. So far, things are looking good on the ice as the Bolts are suppressing opponents’ offense while finding their own offense from secondary sources. Granted part of that is because the top players are still easing their way into the line-up. Ryan McDonagh, Jake Guentzel, Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, Anthony Cirelli, and Hagel have only appeared in one game so far.
Coach Cooper commented that the compete level of the players has been “exceptional”. That follows what the players were saying in their media day interviews prior to camp opening. There does seem to be an added sense of urgency that has been missing the last few camps. Whether it’s adjusting to new players (and the loss of others), or dealing with injuries, prior pre-seasons haven’t seemed as competitive as this year’s.
That has opened up playing time for some of the bubble players on the roster. Jack Finley, who didn’t play in the prospect showcase, is the only player to have appeared in three of the four games while Boris Katchouk, Jakob Pelletier, and a host of others have been in two. Chaffee has been pretty impressive in both of his appearances while Stachowiak has brought his stock up the most in the first couple of weeks of camp.
Expect a big roster cut-down either today or tomorrow as Syracuse is scheduled to open their training camp this week. Keeping an eye on the players that stay up after the big cut will show who the Lightning are most intrigued by and have a chance to make the opening night roster.
In regards to injuries, the worry factor in regards to Andrei Vasilevskiy is currently at 0%. Okay, maybe 5%. Coach Cooper has mentioned that he expects him back on the ice this week, and there are still three games left for him to get some work in before the season starts. If he starts missing practice time later in the week or next week, then it is something to keep an eye on.
Victor Hedman played less than eight minutes in Friday’s game against Carolina and sat out against Nashville (which he might have anyway). Coach Cooper doesn’t seem overly concerned about his captain, but then again is Coop ever really concerned about anything? Again, it’s the pre-season and Hedman is a veteran that doesn’t need five games to get ready. It’ll be wait and see for the Big Swede.
All-in-all, things are going as expected, if not a little better, for the Lightning so far. The next week will go a long way to determining the final roster.
