History of the Tampa Bay Lightning in Opening Nights

 The NHL’s 2023-24 season gets under way tonight night with a triple header. The three-game marathon begins with the Tampa Bay Lightning playing host to the Nashville Predators at 5:30 p.m.

This game is followed by the Chicago Blackhawks on the road in Pittsburgh against the Penguins. The night is concluded with the Seattle Kraken playing in Las Vegas against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights for their banner ceremony.

Tampa Bay also played on the NHL’s opening night last season against the New York Rangers in a rematch of the Eastern Conference Final from the previous season before 2022-23. The Rangers came out on top of that game 3-1.

Despite the loss in that matchup, Tampa Bay has been very good in their games to open up the season. In opening night matchups over the course of their history, Tampa Bay has a record of 19-9-2.

That winning percentage of .633 is the best of any NHL franchise on opening night that has played a minimum of 25 opening night games.

The Bolts’ 2023-24 opening game opponent, the Predators, have played in 24 season openers and boost a record 14-9-1 (.583). They share similar success in “first games of the season” like the Lightning have.

Tampa Bay is currently are riding a two game skid in opening night games against the Rangers (as previously stated) and the Pittsburgh Penguins to start the 2021-22 season. The Lightning lost that matchup 6-2.

They will look to end that streak and get back on the winning trend that their history holds for opening night games. In fact, their record for home opening games in their history is 15-4-2, meaning the vast majority of their wins in season openers have come in Tampa Bay.

What also looks positive for the Lightning is that Nashville’s record for away opening games in their short history is 4-5. Meaning most of their success in these season openers has come at home ice in Tennessee, not away from it.

As a reminder, puck drop for the first matchup of the NHL season between the Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning will be at 5:30 p.m. E.T. at Amalie Arena.