Raw Charge
The static cling that brings Tampa Bay Lightning fans together.
Total reads
1,743
This week
0
Rank
#129 of 467
Published
471 posts
Last 12 weeks
Most read posts
Featured on Sportsblogs
Run this blog? Add the badge to your site to show readers you're featured — it links back to this page.
Latest Entries
2026-27 Atlantic Division Preview: Ottawa Senators
It was another summer of change in Ottawa as the Senators traded Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers in exchange for two 1st Round picks (9th and 25th overall) in the 2026 NHL Draft, Florida’s 2029 1st Round pick and Florida’s 2027 2nd Round pick. The Senators then traded Florida’s 9th pick in the 2026 Draft to the San Jose Sharks for William Eklund(23 years old), Kasper Halttunen(21) and Brandon Svoboda(21). The Brady Tkachuk trade tree will likely be branching out for a long time in Ottawa...
The 2026-27 Tampa Bay Lightning and NHL Predictions Post
A tradition as old as time itself is back. Yes, that’s right, three days into the NHL season, we finally post our preseason predictions. You call it procrastination, we call it building suspense. No matter what we call it, it’s a chance to believe in all that can be good in the world of hockey. It is hope in 1,500 words or more. It’s also entertaining to look back on this many months from now and see what we got right, and what we got so horribly, horribly wrong. The Tampa Bay Lightning s...
Lightning Morning News: Rusty Bolts
Lightning News Last night was a rough game to begin the new season. The New York Rangers scored early and often in the season opener for the Tampa Bay Lightning in New York City. It wasn’t all bad, but certainly no fun, and even included an empty-net goalie goal for Igor Shesterkin in the Rangers 5-1 beat down of the Lightning. Gross. [ Raw Charge ] Things were a little more positive on the New York side as the mood has definitely improved following their 3-0 loss against Boston earl...
Lightning power outage leads to 5-1 loss to Rangers in season opener
Late in the third period, the New York Rangers faithful cheerfully serenaded their long-time goaltender with “Igor’s Better” chants as Igor Shesterkin thwarted chance after chance by the Tampa Bay Lightning on his way to making 24 saves. He rewarded their efforts and sent them into a bigger frenzy when he scored the first goal by a goaltender in Rangers’ history as the Lightning dropped their season opener, 5-1. The Lightning’s effort was there, but their execution was lacking. Missed pas...
Lightning at Rangers Preview: Here. We. Go.
Game 1: Tampa Bay Lightning (0-0-0) at New York Rangers (0-0-0) Time: 7:00 PM EST Location: Madison Square Garden TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, MSG, ESPN+, 102.5 The Bone Odds: Lightning -135 Know the Opponents: Blue Shirt Banter Four seasons ago, the Tampa Bay Lightning opened their season with a 3-1 loss on the road to the New York Rangers. The Bolts were coming off their third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final and there was no reason to think they wouldn’t be...
Three things to carry over from training camp
Can you believe it? The regular season is here (well for some teams). That means training camp is officially over, and everything counts for the next few months. The Tampa Bay Lightning had a good, but not perfect preseason as they went 2-1-1 in their four games against the Nashville Predators and Florida Panthers. There are some things that definitely still need work (power play) and we there is still probably some shuffling to do among the defensive pairings and lines, but for the most part ...
2026-27 Atlantic Division Preview: Detroit Red Wings
Vibes. They aren’t great in Detroit right now. A rough off-season is over. Will the regular season be even rougher, or will some of the youngsters shine bright in the Motor City? 2025-26 Record 41-31-10 (6th in Atlantic) 2025-26 Record Against Lightning 1-2-1 2025-26 Goals For 239 (22nd) 2025-26 Goals Against 254 (19th) 2025-26 Power Play 22/6% (12th) 2025-26 Penalty Kill 77.1% (23rd) 2026-27 Division Odds +3000 2026-27 Stanley Cup Odds +10000 Stats via NHL, odds via Hard Rock Bet as of 9...
Lightning Morning Links: Face-Off!
NHL Opening Night The puck has finally dropped for the new season! The Carolina Hurricanes raised their new Stanley Cup banner to christen the new season in Raleigh against the Florida Panthers. It took a while before the first goal was scored as the game entered overtime scoreless and seemed destined for a shutout shootout before Gustav Forsling scored from distance on a slapshot with 4.3 seconds left. You probably won’t ever see a first goal of the game scored any later than that in the...
Lightning Morning News: A big trade on the eve of the new season
Lightning News: The Lightning will sit back the next few days as the rest of the NHL drops the puck on the new season. The Panthers head to Raleigh to face the Stanley Cup winning Carolina Hurricanes at 5 p.m. today while the Lightning won’t start their season until Thursday night at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers. The Lightning made their final roster cuts and as they finalize their opening night roster. [ Raw Charge ] One of the last cuts this year was forward Benjamin R...
Tampa Bay Lightning set 2026-27 roster
The five o’clock window for having a cap-compliant roster has come and gone, and the Tampa Bay Lightning have officially announced their 2026-27 roster. With no one claimed off of waivers, and the Bolts making no claims, the Lightning had one more transaction to conduct to get to 23 players (well technically they had to make three moves) and they did it by loaning Benjamin Rautiainen back to Tappara to finish off his European contract. They then placed Yanni Gourde and Dominic James on in...
2026-27 Atlantic Division Preview: Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres were one of the biggest surprises of the 2025-26 season. Can they build on their success or will they get swallowed up by a tough Atlantic Division? 2025-26 Record 50-23-9 (109 Points) 1st in Atlantic 2025-26 Record Against Lightning 3-0-1 2025-26 Goals For 283 (5th) 2025-26 Goals Against 240 (10th) 2025-26 Power Play 19.5% (21st) 2025-26 Penalty Kill 81.9% (4th) 2026-27 Division Odds +900 2026-27 Stanley Cup Odds +3000 Stats via NHL, Natural Stat Trick, and Hockey Reference. O...
Sam O’Reilly among final Lightning roster cuts
The Kid Line will have to wait a little while longer before taking the NHL by storm. On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Lightning all but finalized their 2026-27 roster as they made eleven moves in order to trim the head count to 26 players. While they don’t take to the ice until Thursday, their final 23-player roster has to be finalized by 5:00 PM on Monday. Most of the moves that the Lightning made were expected. Matteo Pietroniro and Jarred Tinordi were released from their try-out deals and will...
One more for the road, well, on the road
The Tampa Bay Lightning’s preseason comes to an end in Sunrise tonight as they take on the Florida Panthers just a couple of days after the two teams met in Tampa. With the majority of the assumed regular season starters on both teams having hit their two-game maximum, tonight’s tilt should resemble a Syracuse Crunch versus Charlotte Checkers game more than a NHL contest. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth a watch, especially for Lightning fans. If the lines from the morning skate are to be...
Lightning trade Johansson to division rival
Jonas Johansson’s time with the Tampa Bay Lightning has come to an end. After clearing waivers and being assigned to the Syracuse Crunch, the veteran backup was traded to the Ottawa Senators for future considerations. With the move, the Bolts clear out his $1.25 million cap hit and open up a roster spot. Per Puckpedia the Lightning currently have 47 of their 50 contract slots are taken. Johansson gives the Senators another experienced netminder after Leevi Merilainen was claimed off ...
Roster cutdown day leaves Lightning with 37 players in camp
With just one game left on the preseason schedule and a week to go until the regular season starts, the Tampa Bay Lightning made their biggest roster cut of training camp. The roster was reduced by 21 players with most of them going to Syracuse. With the Crunch announcing their training camp starting on Sunday, it wasn’t a surprise that the transactions were made today. Here’s how it broke down: Players placed on waivers: Simon Lundmark Olivier Rodrigue Steven Santini ...
Lightning Morning News: Panthers take down the Lightning in first preseason match-up
Lightning News: The Lightning took on the Panthers last night at Benchmark. This game had a lot less fireworks than last year and featured some honest-to-goodness hockey. The Panthers scored an ENG late in the game and won in Tampa by a 5-3 score. Jansen Harkins scored twice and Connor Geekie finished a nice 2-on-1 with Sam O’Reilly as the Lightning goal scorers. The two teams meet again on the other side of Alligator Alley on Saturday. [ Raw Charge ] Jansen Harkins did his part to s...
Lightning drop final preseason home game to Panthers, 5-3
The Tampa Bay Lightning rallied back twice, but couldn’t pull out the win as the Florida Panthers picked up the 5-3 win in the Bolts final home preseason game. Jensen Haskins scored twice while Conor Geekie picked up his second goal of the preseason in the loss. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 20 of 24 shots in the loss. The first period was a solid one for the Bolts. They didn’t have many shots on goal as Florida blocked six of their attempts, but most of the early play was in the Florid...
Chapter one of the latest Lightning/Panthers rivalry begins tonight
Welcome to the greatest show in the Sunshine State – the Lightning vs. the Panthers! The latest chapter in the rivalry gets underway tonight in the first of two pre-season games. Tonight the two teams meet at Benchmark and then both teams will wrap up things on Saturday in Sunrise. In theory this game should have fairly low stakes since no one wins a Stanley Cup in the preseason. Yet, it’s Lightning Panthers. These teams don’t know how to play a normal game. So, it should be pretty entert...
2026-27 Atlantic Division Preview: Boston Bruins
Since their Stanley Cup Final lost in 2018-19 the Boston Bruins have been stuck in a good-but-not-great stretch of play that has seen them make the playoffs in all but one season, but fail to advance past the second round in any of them. Is there any reason to believe this year will be different? 2025-26 Record 45-27-10 (100 points) 3rd in Atlantic 2025-26 Record Against Lightning 0-3-1 2025-26 Goals For 268 (10th) 2025-26 Goals Against 247 (14th) 2025-26 Power Play 23.4% (9th) 2025-26 Pe...
2026 Tampa Bay Lightning Top 20 Under 25: #5 Ethan Czata
The Lightning’s second-round pick from 2025 moved into the top five with another effective season in the OHL. Can Ethan Czata take the next step as he finishes off his junior hockey career? Name Ethan Czata Position Forward Age (as of October 1, 2026) 19 Height/Weight 6’2″, 179 lbs. Expected 2026-27 Team Guelph Storm Draft – Year, Round 2025, 2nd (56th) Previous Rankings 11 ( 2025 ) JustinG. Ranking 4 Final Rank 5 Stats: Our Thoughts: Ethan Czata is heading for a ...
Lightning place Jonas Johansson on waivers
The Tampa Bay Lightning continue to adjust their roster as the calendar moves closer to October 1st. On Wednesday they placed goaltender Jonas Johansson on waivers, indicating that the newly acquired Dennis Hildeby, who had 23 saves in his preseason debut Tuesday night, will be Andrei Vasilevskiy’s back-up for the upcoming season. When Hildeby was acquired in a trade that sent Nick Paul to Toronto the writing was on the wall for Johansson, and general manager Julien BriseBois acknowledged...
Lightning Morning News: Battle of Florida up next
The Tampa Bay Lightning preseason rolled along with a trip to Nashville last night. Things looked great for the first 45 minutes until Matthew Wood scored two goals for the Predators to tie the game late in the third and force overtime. Felix Nilsson scored in overtime to seal the comeback win for the Predators. It wasn’t all bad as newly signed Jeffrey Viel scored both goals for the Lightning. The Battle of Florida is next up in Tampa on Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET! [ Tampa Bay Lightning ] ...
Lightning’s second preseason game will feature a much younger line-up
The Tampa Bay Lightning head to Nashville to complete their preseason home-and-home with the Predators. On Monday, the Lightning put a veteran line-up on the ice to earn the 2-1 victory with Ilya Mikheyev and Conor Geekie providing the offense. While Mikheyev gets the night off, Geekie will be back on the ice as he continues to fight for a spot on the roster. The Tampa Bay Lightning players heading to Nashville for the game tonight: [image or embed] — Raw Charge ( @rawcharge.com ) S...
Lightning return prospects to their junior teams
The Tampa Bay Lightning made their first significant cuts of their shortened training camp as they returned seven players to their junior hockey club organizations. None of the players re-assigned were a surprise as they had minimal chances of making the team, even with the current injury situations. Three players will head back to the OHL (including two to the same team), two to the QMJHL, and one each to the WHL and USHL. The moves (and where they are heading): Ethan Czata – Guelph...
Lightning Morning News: WE’RE BACK!
For the first time since May, the Tampa Bay Lightning have some game action to recap. It’s only preseason, obviously, but the new season is finally upon us. The NHL will expand to 84 regular season games starting this season for a balanced schedule, with only four preseason games (a home-and-home with Nashville and Florida) scheduled until the regular season begins in New York City on October 1st! Lightning News: It was one of the busiest sports days imaginable in Tampa Bay yest...
Displaying items 51-75 of 471 in total