The Tampa Bay Lightning’s strong finish to 2025 rolled right into 2026 as they kept piling up the wins and those sweet, sweet Marriott Bonvoy points as they spent a grand portion of the month away from Benchmark International Arena. Nine of their thirteen games were on the road, and two of their trips back home were for single-game home stands. Despite the travel, they managed to keep piling up the points, dropping the full two points only once all month long.
As Coach Jon Cooper pointed ...
1 day ago
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Just because the games aren’t being played doesn’t mean there aren’t things going on in the NHL world. The Tampa Bay Lightning were in the news a bit on Friday as there was some off the ice action. Jack Finley was placed on waivers and Curtis Douglas had to cut a check due to his actions against the Florida Panthers. Other than that, it was a lovely Friday afternoon.
First up was the news that Handsome Jack Finley, the Bolts towering center was placed on waivers. Yes, despite an Olympic b...
3 days ago
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For some members of the Tampa Bay Lightning, a much-needed break in the regular season gets underway today. The NHL is officially shut down for the next few weeks as the attention of the hockey world shifts to Italy and the 2026 Winter Olympics. After 12 years, NHL players are back for a best-on-best tournament (minus, of course, the Russians) and the players are excited to be heading overseas for a chance to earn a gold medal, as well as locker room bragging rights.
Even with Brayden Poi...
4 days ago
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To their credit, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers played an actual hockey game for the first 44 minutes of their final meeting during the regular season. Up 4-0 in the third period, the two teams got into their usual shenanigans that resulted in 14 penalties being dished out, 6 misconducts, 2 game misconducts, and Paul Maurice getting ejected. Overall, the two teams combined for 147 penalty minutes on the night. Oh yeah, and the Lightning won 6-1 behind Andrei Vasilevskiy’s 33 save...
4 days ago
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Game 55: Florida Panthers (29-24-3) at Tampa Bay Lightning (36-14-4)
Time: 7:30 PM
Location: Benchmark International Arena, Where the Panthers have suffered 40 regular season losses
TV/Stream/Radio: Hulu, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App (audio only)
Odds: Lightning
Know the Opponents: Litter Box Cats
No need to get too in depth with this preview, right? We all know how these games go. The teams play pretty fun hockey until a hit or a post-whistle scrum goes a littl...
5 days ago
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Out of all of the players having success for the Tampa Bay Lightning this season, the unlikeliest of them is Darren Raddysh. A healthy scratch at points early in the season, there was some speculation that he might not even make it to the new year on the roster. Not only did he stick around, he found himself on the top pairing and is having a career season.
So why is he a problem? Well. As far as Coach Jon Cooper is concerned, he’s not a problem. Having more good defenseman than you have ...
5 days ago
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Down three centers to start the game, and with their lines in a bit of a blender, the Tampa Bay Lightning still found a way to pull two points out of a game as Darren Raddysh tied it at the death, and Nikita Kucherov found Jake Guentzel in open ice in overtime. Guentzel didn’t miss as he beat Colton Ellis through the five-hole to give the Lightning the 4-3 overtime victory.
The assist was Kucherov’s fourth point of the night as he had a goal and three assists to move to 90 points on the s...
6 days ago
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Well, it looks like Coach Jon Cooper isn’t going to have one of his most trusted forwards for Team Canada in the upcoming Olympic Games in Italy. Reports have surfaced that Anthony Cirelli will not be able to participate after suffering an injury in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s victory over the Boston Bruins.
To add insult to injury, he’s being replaced on the roster by a Panther. Florida’s Sam Bennett
Shortly after Boston scored to make it 3-1 on Sunday, Cirelli was skating at center i...
7 days ago
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Game Fifty-Four: Buffalo Sabres (32-20-4) at Tampa Bay Lightning (35-14-4)
Time: 7:30 PM EST
Location: Benchmark International Arena, Site of 13 NHL Stanley Cup Final Games
TV/Stream/Radio: Hulu, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning -200
Know the Opponents: Die By the Blade
Do y’all remember that last stretch of days in high school or college right before a long holiday break? You know, the last day or so before Christmas or Spring Break when it was extr...
7 days ago
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What more could you want out of a hockey game? Ten goals, a dynamic overtime, a furious comeback, so many pirates, and a goalie fight. The Tampa Bay Lightning battled back from an atrocious first period to overcome a 5-1 deficit and defeated the Boston Bruins 6-5 in a shootout before 64,000 fans in Raymond James.
Nikita Kucherov celebrated his NHL First Star of the Month Award by recording a goal and three assists as the Lightning converted three power play goals in under six minutes to c...
8 days ago
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Game Fifty-Three: Boston Bruins (30-20-5) at Tampa Bay Lightning (34-14-4)
Time: 6:30 PM EST
Location: Raymond James Stadium, Home of the Two-Time Super Bowl Champions
TV/Stream/Radio: ESPN, ESPN+
Odds: Lightning -225
Know the Opponents: Stanley Cup of Chowder
“We’re going to treat this game just like any other.”
That’s how Brandon Hagel answered the question when he was asked about the importance of the Lightning’s match-up against their division rival Bosto...
9 days ago
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Victor Hedman has been on the ice at practice. He’s been on the ice for morning skates. Now it looks like he’ll be on the ice for the Tampa Bay Lightning’s outdoor contest against the Boston Bruins on Sunday night. Reports are that the Lightning captain will be ready to make his return as the team entertains the hockey world. While it’s not 100% official, everything points to The Big Swede playing in his first game since December 9th. Even his coach expects him to play.
Injury update: Lig...
9 days ago
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It was another big night for Darren Raddysh as the Tampa Bay Lightning’s defenseman posted three points, including the game-winning goal in a 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets as the Bolts closed out January with their 11th win of the month. It’s the most victories they’ve had in a month since they went 12-1-2 in February of 2019. It was a fast-paced game with a willing opponent in Winnipeg, but the Bolts built a 2-0 lead, then scored three minutes after the Jets had cut the lead to 2-1. From...
11 days ago
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Game Fifty-two: Winnipeg Jets (21-24-7) at Tampa Bay Lightning (33-14-4)
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Location: Benchmark International Arena, built on top of the grave of Jose Gaspar*
TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning -192
Know the Opponents: Arctic Ice Hockey
It’s been the tradition for injured Lightning players to lead the stretches in their final practice before returning to the line-up, so we present to you, from yesterday’s ...
12 days ago
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It finally looks like Tampa Bay Lightning might be getting some of their injured blueliners back into the line-up. While the team wasn’t on the ice for practice on Tuesday, off the ice, the organization made a couple of moves that indicate at least one of their injured defenseman may be ready to go. With the Lightning re-assigning Simon Lundmark and Jakob Pelletier, the door is open for Ryan McDonagh to return to the line-up on Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets.
The reassignment of Pelle...
13 days ago
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Clayton Keller was behind the Tampa Bay Lightning defense with nothing but open air between him and Andrei Vasilevskiy. The three-time 30-goal scorer had the puck on his stick and a chance to tie the game. All he had to do was slide the puck past the Lightning goaltender. For the briefest of seconds, there was daylight between the pads, but when the backhand shot was released, Vasilevskiy’s leg was there to deflect the puck away. The score remained 1-0 in the Lightning’s favor, and they would ...
14 days ago
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Game Fifty-One: Utah Mammoth (27-20-4) at Tampa Bay Lightning (32-14-4)
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Location: Benchmark International Arena, Former home ice for Mikhail Sergachev (and Ian Cole)
TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, Utah16, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning -162
Know the Opponents: Utah Mammoth on NHL.com
Stampeding out of the Wasatch Mountains comes one of the league’s hottest teams in the Utah Mammoth. The newest franchise in the league is riding a five-...
15 days ago
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We were so close to having some good news in regards to the Tampa Bay Lightning injury situation. Ryan McDonagh was upgraded to day-to-day. Victor Hedman was skating. Things were starting to come together. Then the Columbus game happened. With Max Crozier already out due to an illness, the Lightning lost both Erik Cernak (checked into the boards) and Charle-Edouard D’Astous (knee-on-knee collision at the blue line) before the final whistle was blown.
With the Lightning enjoying a day off,...
15 days ago
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Here it is. The tape of tonight’s game. Go ahead and burn it.
Could we spend the next two-thousand words picking out everything that went wrong tonight? Sure, but it would probably take more than two-thousand words. They were on the back foot early with sloppy puck control and Columbus took advantage. Was it fatigue? Was it fate? It doesn’t really matter. Despite fighting back twice from two goals down, the Lightning weren’t able to find a way to win.
Jonas Johansson did not...
16 days ago
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In our preview today, we speculated that the Tampa Bay Lightning might go with an 11/7 line-up if Big Jack Finley isn’t able to suit up today. While that is still a possibility, the Lightning gave themselves another option as they recalled forward Jakob Pelletier from Syracuse prior to their game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The free agent signing was recalled earlier this year and made his Lightning debut on November 15. He’s been one of the Crunch’s best players this season, loggi...
17 days ago
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Game Fifty: Tampa Bay Lightning at Columbus Blue Jackets (23-20-7)
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Location: Nationwide Arena, A 30-minute walk from the excellent Columbus Museum of Art
TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, FDSNOH, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning -125
Know the Opponents: Jackets’ Cannon
The Tampa Bay Lightning pulled off a shoot-out victory against a tired Chicago Blackhawks teams on Friday night. Twenty-four hours later, amidst a flurry of snow in Columbus...
17 days ago
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There weren’t many who expected this game to be as close as it was, but the Chicago Blackhawks took everything the Tampa Bay Lightning could throw at them for most of the night. In the end, it took a shootout for the Lightning to pick up the two points in a chilly Chicago. Successful shootout attempts by Nikita Kucherov, who shushed the crowd after they serenaded him with boos during his attempt, Gage Goncavles, and Dominic James were the difference.
With the ‘Hawks coming off a shootout ...
17 days ago
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Game Forty-Nine: Tampa Bay Lightning (31-13-4) at Chicago Blackhawks (21-22-7)
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Location: United Center, Stormy, husky, brawling, City of Big Shoulders
TV/Stream/Radio: ESPN, 102.5 FM, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning -260
Know the Opponents: Second City Hockey
After a couple of nights of sleeping on their own beds, the Tampa Bay Lightning are back on the road for a quick weekend back-to-back against Chicago and Columbus. After these two games, the B...
18 days ago
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The first trade deadline is right around the corner as the Olympic break roster freeze is set for February 4th. Will the Lightning make a move before this deadline? Honestly, who knows? As usual, the Lightning are playing things close to the vest and there is no news leaking out of the Channelside offices. General Manager Julien BriseBois was as vague as usual during his mid-season check-in , downplaying the Lightning’s chances of being a big player on the trade market.
“So even if we’r...
19 days ago
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The countdown comes to it’s conclusion (finally) with an overwhelming choice in Conor Geekie. The big center is excelling in Syracuse this season after surprising everyone by making the Tampa Bay Lightning last season.
Name Conor Geekie Position Center Age (as of October 1, 2025) 21 Height/Weight 6’4″, 207 lb. Expected 2025-26 Team Tampa Bay Lightning / Syracuse Crunch Draft – Year, Round 2022, 1st Round (11) Arizona Coyotes Previous Rankings 1 (2024) JustinG. Ranking 1 Final Rank 1 ...
20 days ago
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