Tampa Bay Lightning to have 12 games broadcast nationally this season

Tampa Bay Lightning fans will be seeing a lot more of their team on a national scale as there will be 12 games broadcast nationally next season.

Much to the joy of hockey fans all around the world, the start of the 2018-19 season is right around the corner. Soon, Tampa Bay Lightning players will be making their way home to the Bolts Nation from their off-season travels and getting ready to get down to business once again.

As any Lightning fan knows, a majority of the games are broadcast here locally on Fox Sports Sun. After the performance the Bolts put on last season and their trip to the Eastern Conference Final, it seems the Lightning are about to get a little more national exposure.

The Tampa Bay Lightning announced that a total of 12 games will be broadcast nationally this season. A majority of these games will be shown on the ever-so-popular (insert sarcasm here) NBC Sports Network. One of the aforementioned games will be broadcast on NBC’s main network.

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This is definitely great news for the Tampa Bay Lightning. It means the rest of the hockey world is taking notice and the Lightning are real contenders each and every season. At the same time, this means Lightning fans will have to deal with some not-so-flattering commentary.

Anyone who has been following the Lightning over the last couple of years knows the commentators and analysts over at NBC Sports have not always been kind to the Bolts, even when they were succeeding. In fact, some Lightning fans have taken to muting their televisions and turning on the local radio broadcast.

In almost every situation, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. However, in this particular case, we’re going to have to say the opposite is true.

It is never a bad day when a team gets national exposure and if this means we have to deal with some lopsided and sometimes unflattering commentary then this is what we must do. Those of us here in the Bolts Nation are all in for the Boys in Blue, right?

Here is a closer look at the games which will be broadcast nationally in the 2018-19 season. Home games are in bold and away games are in normal text. All times are in Eastern Time.

As you can see, there are quite a few great games on the schedule. The Lightning will be facing off against the Chicago Blackhawks on November 23 and the Boston Bruins on February 28. Things are going to get a little rough for the Bolts around Christmas when they take on both the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins.

The national broadcast schedule concludes with the game everyone is going to be anxious to see. Fans will get a replay of the Eastern Conference Final as the Tampa Bay Lightning take on the Washington Capitals for the second of three games this season.

The upcoming season is sure to be a rollercoaster of emotions for the Tampa Bay Lightning and their fans. While those of us here in the Bolts Nation may have to suffer through some rough commentary along the way, we’re definitely happy to see the Bolts gets more national exposure.