The Lightning’s 2025-26 regular-season schedule is out, and it includes some challenging stretches, especially on the road.
The Lightning will open the season at Amalie Arena on Oct. 9, hosting the Ottawa Senators for a 7 p.m. start.
The Bolts have their longest homestand from March 24 to April 4, a seven-game stretch that will carry them into the final two weeks of the regular season. The longest road trip of the year is a five-game trip from Jan. 10-18.
Ten of the Lightning’s 15 back-to-backs will have both games played on the road.
Here are some highlights from the schedule:
Starting off at home again
The Lightning opened the season on the road in two of the previous three seasons, including last year. The team completed its preparation in Raleigh, North Carolina, due to Hurricane Milton ahead of the season opener at Carolina, a 4-1 win over the Hurricanes.
The Lightning typically have played well on opening night, winning nine of their last 11 openers, their only losses coming following their 2020 and 2021 Stanley Cup-winning seasons.
The Senators have been a tough opponent the past three seasons, as the Lightning are 3-6-1 versus Ottawa. But Tampa Bay’s back-to-back home wins over the Sens in February propelled the team to a strong regular-season finish.
Getting points on opening night will be important, as they play just two of their first six games at Amalie Arena.
The next chapter
The Lightning and Panthers will face each other three straight times at the end of the preseason, but their first meeting of the regular season comes Nov. 15 in Sunrise.
Last season, these teams didn’t square off until mid-December, but this meeting has perfect timing, roughly five weeks into the regular season, enough time for teams to find their footing in the standings.
Brandon Hagel is looking forward to this game after Aaron Ekblad ended his 2024-25 season in the playoffs. It’s not a reach to say these teams hate each other. And the fact that both will field pretty much the same rosters as last season makes this dance even more interesting.
Will the Lightning make a statement on this night, on the road, to show they’re going to be in the defending Stanley Cup champs’ way?
A frosty reception for the Ice Man?
The Oilers are already an alluring draw because of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and the fact that Edmonton has been to the Cup final two straight years.
But the Lightning’s Nov. 20 home game against the Oilers should be an especially popular ticket because it should be Isaac Howard’s first game in Tampa. The former Lightning first-round pick might have become Public Enemy No. 1 for Bolts Nation given the sequence of events that led to Tampa Bay trading his rights to Edmonton earlier this month.
Lightning-Oilers games already have added electricity because of the incredible amount of skill on the ice, and Lightning fans will surely boo Howard loudly every time he touches the puck. But beware, the Ice Man has always had a penchant for stepping up in big moments at every level he’s played, so maybe they don’t want to amp him up too much.
Bring on the outdoors
This is a day the Lightning organization has waited years for, the opportunity to host a Stadium Series game at Raymond James Stadium, on Feb. 1 against division rival Boston. Three years ago, Lightning fans flocked to Nashville to attend the team’s first outdoor game, and that showing prompted the NHL to realize Tampa deserves its own.
But how will it work?
This year, the high on Feb. 1 was 73 degrees, the low 64. The heat, sun, humidity, precipitation, even the salinity in the air, all present challenges, but the league has embraced them. It figures to be one of the most memorable nights in Tampa Bay sports history.
Challenging schedule out of break
The Lightning will be well-represented at next year’s Olympics, with five players already selected to preliminary rosters with more surely to come, not to mention coach Jon Cooper and general manager Julien BriseBois chasing gold for Team Canada. We did see fatigue hit some Lightning players coming off last season’s 4 Nations Faceoff, and the Lightning’s schedule is a bear coming out of the Olympic break.
When the Lightning return to play on Feb. 25 at home against the Leafs, then at Carolina the next night, they open a stretch that includes nine of 14 games on the road. The Lightning will play 16 games in March, and end the regular season with four of their last six games on the road, all against division opponents.
