The Tampa Bay Lightning released their full 2014-15 schedule today.
Some highlights…
* As previously announced, the team will open the season on home ice at the Tampa Bay Times Forum with a contest against the Florida Panthers. That tilt is scheduled for Thursday, October 9th at 7:30pm.
* Including that game against the Panthers, Tampa’s first seven contests will be against teams that failed to make the post-season in 2013-14. Unlike last season, when the Bolts opened the season with games against the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks, the team will have the opportunity to ease into the 14-15 campaign. The season starts with three home games (Florida, Ottawa, New Jersey) and then continues with games in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg.
* Marty St. Louis will make his return to the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Wednesday, November 26th when his New York Rangers come to town. I’ll just leave it at that.
* After being swept by the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the 2013-14 playoffs, the Lightning won’t have a shot at revenge until Tuesday, January 6th in Montreal. That is the first of five meetings between the Atlantic Division rivals.
* The Bolts won’t have the opportunity to face the defending Stanley Cup champions until February. The Los Angeles Kings come to town on Saturday, February 7th, and then the Lightning head to California for a game against the Kings on Monday, February 16th.
* Per the team’s press release, 16 of the team’s final 20 games this coming year will be against Atlantic Division opponents. The playoff implications there could be huge.
* As tpd11 pointed out in the comments section, nine of the team's final 14 games will be played on home ice, including the last three. Again, if the team is in a playoff race, getting to play the bulk of their final games at the Forum could prove to be important.
* The team will have four, five-game road trips this season. As alluded to above, the first comes very early in the season with that Northwestern swing against the Canadian teams; a game against Minnesota is tagged on at the end of that trip.
* The Lightning will play in twelve back-to-back situations.
* March is the team’s busiest month, as the Lightning will suit up in a whopping 15 contests.
The full schedule can be seen here!
As always, thanks for reading.
Michael Stuart has been the Tampa Bay Lightning writer for HockeyBuzz since 2012. Visit his archive to read more or follow him on Twitter.