Tampa Bay Lightning's championship pedigree remains as NHL season gets underway
By Associated Press
October 8, 2025 at 12:23 PM EDT
The Bolts open at home — the renamed Benchmark International Arena — against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night with a goal to get past the first round of the playoffs and back-to-back Cup winner Florida.
When a boat parade is the standard for an organization, anything less than hoisting the Stanley Cup is a disappointment.
The Tampa Bay Lightning haven’t come close to those lofty expectations since falling two wins shy of a threepeat in 2022. They’ve been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs three consecutive years, the last two by the eventual champion Florida Panthers.
“You kinda use that as motivation throughout the whole summer,” veteran defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. “You’re angry that your season was cut short. We didn’t accomplish our goal so you use that as motivation all summer to be as prepared as you can be and ready for a good start to the season and carry that through. They knocked us out and went on and finished the job and that’s what we’re trying to do and get the job done.”
The work begins against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night at 7 in what is now known as Benchmark International Arena, the Bolts' downtown Tampa rink.
ALSO READ: Benchmark International Arena: A new name for the Lightning's venue in downtown Tampa
The Lightning didn’t make any splashy moves in the offseason after acquiring forward Oliver Bjorkstrand and center Yanni Gourde at the trade deadline last season. Instead, they kept their core together, added depth players like forward Pontus Holmberg and bring back one of the most balanced lineups in the NHL.
Is their window to win another Cup closing? Not yet. It’s still wide open with this group.
“At the end of last season, goals against, goals for, power play, (penalty kill), goal differential, 5-on-5 play, we checked a lot of boxes,” general manager Julien BriseBois said. “We still went out and tried to do even better, tried to improve the roster at the deadline, tried to improve the roster this offseason. So you’re always looking to improve your roster. I think what’s exciting for us now is some of that growth might be internal. It might be organic. We have some young players that are going to be pushing to play a bigger role, I think, and it’ll be exciting to see if they’re able to do that and how quickly they’ll be able to do that.”
Improving power play a must
Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel are an elite top line. They lead an offense that averaged a league-best 3.6 goals per game.
Kucherov has won consecutive NHL scoring titles and is aiming to become just the seventh player in league history to do it three years in a row. The 31-year-old Russian forward enters the season just six points away from 1,000 for his career.
He’s more focused on improving the power play after a dismal 2-for-18 showing in the five-game series against the Panthers, who have turned into a bitter rival. In the regular season, the Lightning had the fifth-best power play with a 25.9% success rate.
“I really took it personal,” Kucherov said of the poor performance in the playoffs. “That’s something that you hate to see and you’re just hungry to go on the ice and work on things. You go out there and you work and hopefully find solutions.”
The defense gave up the fourth-fewest goals at 2.6 per game. Andrei Vasilevskiy is one of the top netminders in the league and finished second for the Vezina Trophy. His 2.18 goals-against average last season was a career-best for the three-time All-Star and 2018-19 Vezina winner.
“We proved last year, especially in the regular season, how good we are,” captain Victor Hedman said. “Getting bounced in the first round is not good enough, not up to our standard but I’m super excited about the team we have, the depth we have, the young guys we have.”
Tampa Bay has scoring beyond the top line. Forward Brandon Hagel, who was acquired from Chicago in March 2022 for two first-round picks and two players, scored 35 goals and had 90 points last season. He also spent time working out with Kucherov in the offseason.
ALSO READ: Vinik completes sale of Lightning's majority ownership to Wall Street billionaires
Bjorkstrand and Gourde anchor the third line. Bjorkstrand has scored 20 goals is six of the last seven seasons. He’s a key producer on the power play and has a powerful right-handed shot the team was missing without Steven Stamkos last season. Gourde is a three-time 20-goal scorer.
The Lightning (47-27-8) have reached the playoffs in 11 of 12 seasons under coach Jon Cooper, including eight straight years. They play in a difficult Atlantic Division that includes the Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Florida finished third last season, didn’t have home-ice advantage against Tampa Bay and went on to win the Cup for the second straight season. The Lightning know that getting into the tournament is only the first step. The goal is to win 16 games in the postseason.
“There’s no reason to not have a ton of confidence and a ton of belief in this group,” McDonagh said.
Now, they just have to finish the job.
Fallout from fight-filled preseason finale
The Lightning rivalry with the Panthers hit a new high — or low — during Saturday night's fight-filled preseason finale between the teams that featured more than 300 penalty minutes and 16 ejections.
As a result, the NHL came down hard on Tampa Bay, suspending two players and fining two others.
Additionally, the Lightning were fined $100,000 and Cooper received a $25,000 fine.
ALSO READ: A ton of ejections. A goal taken away 15 minutes later. Lightning-Panthers was wild Saturday
Lightning defenseman J.J. Moser was suspended for two games for boarding after a hard hit from behind on Panthers forward Jesper Boqvist. Forward Scott Sabourin earned a four-game suspension for punching Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad with an ungloved hand.
Sabourin was called up for Tampa Bay's farm team in Syracuse for the game, then sent back down afterward. He would need to recalled to serve his suspension.
In addition, winger Gage Goncalves was fined $3,125 and defenseman Roman Schmidt was fined $2,098.52 for cross-checking. Both are the maximum amount allowed under the NHL's collective bargaining agreement. Schmidt was sent down to Syracuse on Monday.
No one from Florida was punished.
A look at the 2025-26 Lightning
DEPARTURES: C Luke Glendening, D Nick Perbix, RW Cam Atkinson, LW Isaac Howard, LF Conor Sheary.
ADDITIONS: C Pontus Holmberg, LW Boris Katchouk, RW Jakob Pelletier, C Sam O’Reilly, RW Scott Sabourin.
GOALIES: Andrei Vasilevskiy (38-20-5, 2.18 goals-against average, .921 save percentage), Jonas Johansson (9-6-3, 3.13, .895.
BETMGM STANLEY CUP ODDS: 11-1.
WHAT TO EXPECT: After falling short of a Stanley Cup three-peat, the Lightning haven’t won a playoff series over the past three years, losing to eventual champion Florida in the first round the last two. They didn’t make any splashy moves in the offseason but have a talented roster and few holes. While some think the window is closing on the Lightning, oddsmakers consider them among the favorites. Staying healthy would help. Nikita Kucherov led the NHL in scoring, Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel finished in the top seven in goals. Vasilevskiy finished fourth in goals-against and save percentage. Kucherov and others were banged up and not 100% during the most recent Panthers series.
THE GOOD: The top line is one of the NHL’s best and so is Vasilevskiy. The offense ranked first in goals per game (3.56) and fifth in power-play percentage (25.9%). Tampa was also fourth in goals against per game (2.63) and sixth on the penalty kill (81.6%), thanks not only to Vasilevskiy but a defense anchored by captain Victor Hedman. Cooper is going into his 13th full season behind the bench, coaching much of the same core that was part of back-to-back title runs in 2020 and ‘21 and the trip to the final in ’22.
THE NOT-SO-GOOD: After years of contending and trading first-round picks to acquire players to win now, the pipeline is bereft of high-quality prospects if any are needed to step in because of injuries. Salary cap attrition has also depleted Tampa Bay's depth on defense.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Kucherov was a finalist for the Hart Trophy as MVP each of the past two seasons and last year was voted the winner of the Ted Lindsay Award for most outstanding player as voted by his peers. Only Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon have more points than Kucherov's 994 dating to his 2014 debut. Point and Guentzel are also elite playmakers. Brandon Hagel is one of the game's best at producing at even strength without needing to get himself and his numbers going with ice time on the power play.
The Tampa Bay Lightning haven’t come close to those lofty expectations since falling two wins shy of a threepeat in 2022. They’ve been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs three consecutive years, the last two by the eventual champion Florida Panthers.
“You kinda use that as motivation throughout the whole summer,” veteran defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. “You’re angry that your season was cut short. We didn’t accomplish our goal so you use that as motivation all summer to be as prepared as you can be and ready for a good start to the season and carry that through. They knocked us out and went on and finished the job and that’s what we’re trying to do and get the job done.”
The work begins against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night at 7 in what is now known as Benchmark International Arena, the Bolts' downtown Tampa rink.
ALSO READ: Benchmark International Arena: A new name for the Lightning's venue in downtown Tampa
The Lightning didn’t make any splashy moves in the offseason after acquiring forward Oliver Bjorkstrand and center Yanni Gourde at the trade deadline last season. Instead, they kept their core together, added depth players like forward Pontus Holmberg and bring back one of the most balanced lineups in the NHL.
Is their window to win another Cup closing? Not yet. It’s still wide open with this group.
“At the end of last season, goals against, goals for, power play, (penalty kill), goal differential, 5-on-5 play, we checked a lot of boxes,” general manager Julien BriseBois said. “We still went out and tried to do even better, tried to improve the roster at the deadline, tried to improve the roster this offseason. So you’re always looking to improve your roster. I think what’s exciting for us now is some of that growth might be internal. It might be organic. We have some young players that are going to be pushing to play a bigger role, I think, and it’ll be exciting to see if they’re able to do that and how quickly they’ll be able to do that.”
Improving power play a must
Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel are an elite top line. They lead an offense that averaged a league-best 3.6 goals per game.
Kucherov has won consecutive NHL scoring titles and is aiming to become just the seventh player in league history to do it three years in a row. The 31-year-old Russian forward enters the season just six points away from 1,000 for his career.
He’s more focused on improving the power play after a dismal 2-for-18 showing in the five-game series against the Panthers, who have turned into a bitter rival. In the regular season, the Lightning had the fifth-best power play with a 25.9% success rate.
“I really took it personal,” Kucherov said of the poor performance in the playoffs. “That’s something that you hate to see and you’re just hungry to go on the ice and work on things. You go out there and you work and hopefully find solutions.”
The defense gave up the fourth-fewest goals at 2.6 per game. Andrei Vasilevskiy is one of the top netminders in the league and finished second for the Vezina Trophy. His 2.18 goals-against average last season was a career-best for the three-time All-Star and 2018-19 Vezina winner.
“We proved last year, especially in the regular season, how good we are,” captain Victor Hedman said. “Getting bounced in the first round is not good enough, not up to our standard but I’m super excited about the team we have, the depth we have, the young guys we have.”
Tampa Bay has scoring beyond the top line. Forward Brandon Hagel, who was acquired from Chicago in March 2022 for two first-round picks and two players, scored 35 goals and had 90 points last season. He also spent time working out with Kucherov in the offseason.
ALSO READ: Vinik completes sale of Lightning's majority ownership to Wall Street billionaires
Bjorkstrand and Gourde anchor the third line. Bjorkstrand has scored 20 goals is six of the last seven seasons. He’s a key producer on the power play and has a powerful right-handed shot the team was missing without Steven Stamkos last season. Gourde is a three-time 20-goal scorer.
The Lightning (47-27-8) have reached the playoffs in 11 of 12 seasons under coach Jon Cooper, including eight straight years. They play in a difficult Atlantic Division that includes the Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Florida finished third last season, didn’t have home-ice advantage against Tampa Bay and went on to win the Cup for the second straight season. The Lightning know that getting into the tournament is only the first step. The goal is to win 16 games in the postseason.
“There’s no reason to not have a ton of confidence and a ton of belief in this group,” McDonagh said.
Now, they just have to finish the job.
Fallout from fight-filled preseason finale
The Lightning rivalry with the Panthers hit a new high — or low — during Saturday night's fight-filled preseason finale between the teams that featured more than 300 penalty minutes and 16 ejections.
As a result, the NHL came down hard on Tampa Bay, suspending two players and fining two others.
Additionally, the Lightning were fined $100,000 and Cooper received a $25,000 fine.
ALSO READ: A ton of ejections. A goal taken away 15 minutes later. Lightning-Panthers was wild Saturday
Lightning defenseman J.J. Moser was suspended for two games for boarding after a hard hit from behind on Panthers forward Jesper Boqvist. Forward Scott Sabourin earned a four-game suspension for punching Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad with an ungloved hand.
Sabourin was called up for Tampa Bay's farm team in Syracuse for the game, then sent back down afterward. He would need to recalled to serve his suspension.
In addition, winger Gage Goncalves was fined $3,125 and defenseman Roman Schmidt was fined $2,098.52 for cross-checking. Both are the maximum amount allowed under the NHL's collective bargaining agreement. Schmidt was sent down to Syracuse on Monday.
No one from Florida was punished.
A look at the 2025-26 Lightning
DEPARTURES: C Luke Glendening, D Nick Perbix, RW Cam Atkinson, LW Isaac Howard, LF Conor Sheary.
ADDITIONS: C Pontus Holmberg, LW Boris Katchouk, RW Jakob Pelletier, C Sam O’Reilly, RW Scott Sabourin.
GOALIES: Andrei Vasilevskiy (38-20-5, 2.18 goals-against average, .921 save percentage), Jonas Johansson (9-6-3, 3.13, .895.
BETMGM STANLEY CUP ODDS: 11-1.
WHAT TO EXPECT: After falling short of a Stanley Cup three-peat, the Lightning haven’t won a playoff series over the past three years, losing to eventual champion Florida in the first round the last two. They didn’t make any splashy moves in the offseason but have a talented roster and few holes. While some think the window is closing on the Lightning, oddsmakers consider them among the favorites. Staying healthy would help. Nikita Kucherov led the NHL in scoring, Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel finished in the top seven in goals. Vasilevskiy finished fourth in goals-against and save percentage. Kucherov and others were banged up and not 100% during the most recent Panthers series.
THE GOOD: The top line is one of the NHL’s best and so is Vasilevskiy. The offense ranked first in goals per game (3.56) and fifth in power-play percentage (25.9%). Tampa was also fourth in goals against per game (2.63) and sixth on the penalty kill (81.6%), thanks not only to Vasilevskiy but a defense anchored by captain Victor Hedman. Cooper is going into his 13th full season behind the bench, coaching much of the same core that was part of back-to-back title runs in 2020 and ‘21 and the trip to the final in ’22.
THE NOT-SO-GOOD: After years of contending and trading first-round picks to acquire players to win now, the pipeline is bereft of high-quality prospects if any are needed to step in because of injuries. Salary cap attrition has also depleted Tampa Bay's depth on defense.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Kucherov was a finalist for the Hart Trophy as MVP each of the past two seasons and last year was voted the winner of the Ted Lindsay Award for most outstanding player as voted by his peers. Only Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon have more points than Kucherov's 994 dating to his 2014 debut. Point and Guentzel are also elite playmakers. Brandon Hagel is one of the game's best at producing at even strength without needing to get himself and his numbers going with ice time on the power play.