Storm Postponed Tampa Bay Lightning Home Game Postponed Again – Hockey Writers – Tampa Bay Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning announced a postponed date for their home opener against the Carolina Hurricanes on Oct. 12. To be played on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at 7 pm.

The game was postponed due to Hurricane Milton.

Along with the regular season home opener, a preseason game against the Nashville Predators on Oct. 7 has been cancelled. Coincidentally, it was already postponed from September 27 due to Hurricane Helene hitting Florida a few weeks earlier.

The postponement was announced on October 10, the day after Milton arrived on Florida's Gulf Coast. It was the strongest storm in the Tampa Bay area in more than a century.

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The Lightning and their staff left early for their season opener against the Hurricanes on Oct. 11 – the first home-and-home to start the season – to get out of the way of the storm.

Through 16 games, the Lightning sit in third place in the Atlantic Division with a 9-6-1 record and 19 points. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes sit atop the Metropolitan Division with a 13-4-0 record and 26 points.

In the season opener between these two teams, the Lightning won 4-1.

With the schedule change, the Lightning now have room to play two games in the first few days of the new year. Originally, they would have one home game against the Boston Bruins in between a three-game, two-game road trip.