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The second day of summer saw the NHL release its full schedule for all 30 NHL teams, which is kind of nice seeing that it gives fans the opportunity to schedule trips way ahead of time, but kind of sucks because it leaves much of July and August for nothing but the dog days of summer and almost zero hockey to talk about.
It does leave you salivating and anticipating and curious about the season ahead.
The Lightning kicks off the season with a three game homestand at Times Palace before venturing to Western Canada (and Minnesota) on a five game road jaunt.
Unlike the 2013-14 season, the Bolts Atlantic Division schedule is not packed at the front of the season schedule in the same way that last season's schedule was. In rivalry-building attempts, the league has scheduled Tampa to face Montreal and Boston for the first time only after the new-year, meaning all matchups will likely be critical between the three top teams from this past season... if they're playing as well at this point as they were in the past, that is.
Martin St. Louis faces his former team for the first time on November 17 at Madison Square Garden. He'll make his first trip back to Tampa as a member of the New York Rangers on November 26th, which I'm pretty sure is a date many fans will circle on their calendar.
The Bolts also have 12 back-to-back games this season, which is the same number from this past season. Also like last season, 11 will be played on the road while a single back-to-back set will be played at home.
In a minor cross-sport note, no dates with Lightning and Tampa Bay Buccaneers home at the same time. The only day they'll both be playing is November 9th (Lightning @ Detroit Red Wings, Bucs hosting Atlanta Falcons).
The full schedule is below. What I've noted above is just tidbits. This is certainly worth more of a discussion.
OCTOBER 2014
THU OCT 9, 2014
PANTHERS
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
SAT OCT 11, 2014
SENATORS
LIGHTNING
7:00 PM
SN1
TUE OCT 14, 2014
DEVILS
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
SAT OCT 18, 2014
LIGHTNING
CANUCKS
10:00 PM
CBC
MON OCT 20, 2014
LIGHTNING
OILERS
9:30 PM
TUE OCT 21, 2014
LIGHTNING
FLAMES
9:00 PM
FRI OCT 24, 2014
LIGHTNING
JETS
8:00 PM
SAT OCT 25, 2014
LIGHTNING
WILD
8:00 PM
TUE OCT 28, 2014
COYOTES
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
THU OCT 30, 2014
FLYERS
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
NOVEMBER 2014
DATE
VISITOR
HOME
TIME (ET)
SAT NOV 1, 2014
CAPITALS
LIGHTNING
7:00 PM
FX-CA
THU NOV 6, 2014
FLAMES
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
SAT NOV 8, 2014
LIGHTNING
BLUE JACKETS
7:00 PM
SUN NOV 9, 2014
LIGHTNING
RED WINGS
6:00 PM
TUE NOV 11, 2014
LIGHTNING
BLACKHAWKS
8:30 PM
THU NOV 13, 2014
SHARKS
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
SAT NOV 15, 2014
ISLANDERS
LIGHTNING
7:00 PM
MON NOV 17, 2014
LIGHTNING
RANGERS
7:00 PM
TUE NOV 18, 2014
LIGHTNING
ISLANDERS
7:00 PM
THU NOV 20, 2014
LIGHTNING
MAPLE LEAFS
7:30 PM
SAT NOV 22, 2014
WILD
LIGHTNING
7:00 PM
WED NOV 26, 2014
RANGERS
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
SAT NOV 29, 2014
SENATORS
LIGHTNING
7:00 PM
DECEMBER 2014
DATE
VISITOR
HOME
TIME (ET)
MON DEC 1, 2014
LIGHTNING
RANGERS
7:00 PM
TUE DEC 2, 2014
LIGHTNING
SABRES
7:00 PM
THU DEC 4, 2014
SABRES
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
SAT DEC 6, 2014
BLUE JACKETS
LIGHTNING
7:00 PM
TUE DEC 9, 2014
CAPITALS
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
THU DEC 11, 2014
HURRICANES
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
SAT DEC 13, 2014
LIGHTNING
CAPITALS
7:00 PM
MON DEC 15, 2014
LIGHTNING
PENGUINS
7:00 PM
TUE DEC 16, 2014
LIGHTNING
FLYERS
7:00 PM
FRI DEC 19, 2014
LIGHTNING
DEVILS
7:00 PM
SAT DEC 20, 2014
LIGHTNING
ISLANDERS
7:00 PM
TUE DEC 23, 2014
PENGUINS
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
SAT DEC 27, 2014
HURRICANES
LIGHTNING
7:00 PM
MON DEC 29, 2014
MAPLE LEAFS
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
WED DEC 31, 2014
LIGHTNING
SABRES
6:00 PM
JANUARY 2015
DATE
VISITOR
HOME
TIME (ET)
FRI JAN 2, 2015
LIGHTNING
PENGUINS
7:00 PM
SUN JAN 4, 2015
LIGHTNING
SENATORS
7:00 PM
TUE JAN 6, 2015
LIGHTNING
CANADIENS
7:30 PM
FRI JAN 9, 2015
SABRES
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
MON JAN 12, 2015
LIGHTNING
FLYERS
7:00 PM
TUE JAN 13, 2015
LIGHTNING
BRUINS
7:00 PM
THU JAN 15, 2015
OILERS
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
SAT JAN 17, 2015
AVALANCHE
LIGHTNING
7:00 PM
TUE JAN 20, 2015
CANUCKS
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
TUE JAN 27, 2015
LIGHTNING
HURRICANES
7:00 PM
THU JAN 29, 2015
RED WINGS
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
SAT JAN 31, 2015
BLUE JACKETS
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
FEBRUARY 2015
DATE
VISITOR
HOME
TIME (ET)
TUE FEB 3, 2015
LIGHTNING
BLUES
8:00 PM
THU FEB 5, 2015
LIGHTNING
STARS
8:30 PM
SAT FEB 7, 2015
KINGS
LIGHTNING
5:00 PM
SUN FEB 8, 2015
DUCKS
LIGHTNING
5:00 PM
TUE FEB 10, 2015
LIGHTNING
PREDATORS
8:00 PM
THU FEB 12, 2015
BLUES
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
SUN FEB 15, 2015
LIGHTNING
SHARKS
8:00 PM
MON FEB 16, 2015
LIGHTNING
KINGS
10:30 PM
WED FEB 18, 2015
LIGHTNING
DUCKS
10:00 PM
SAT FEB 21, 2015
LIGHTNING
COYOTES
8:00 PM
SUN FEB 22, 2015
LIGHTNING
AVALANCHE
6:00 PM
FRI FEB 27, 2015
BLACKHAWKS
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
DATE
VISITOR
HOME
TIME (ET)
SUN MAR 1, 2015
LIGHTNING
PANTHERS
5:00 PM
TUE MAR 3, 2015
SABRES
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
THU MAR 5, 2015
MAPLE LEAFS
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
SAT MAR 7, 2015
STARS
LIGHTNING
7:00 PM
TUE MAR 10, 2015
LIGHTNING
CANADIENS
7:30 PM
THU MAR 12, 2015
LIGHTNING
BRUINS
7:00 PM
SAT MAR 14, 2015
JETS
LIGHTNING
7:00 PM
MON MAR 16, 2015
CANADIENS
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
FRI MAR 20, 2015
RED WINGS
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
SUN MAR 22, 2015
BRUINS
LIGHTNING
5:00 PM
TUE MAR 24, 2015
PANTHERS
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
THU MAR 26, 2015
PREDATORS
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
SAT MAR 28, 2015
LIGHTNING
RED WINGS
2:00 PM
MON MAR 30, 2015
LIGHTNING
CANADIENS
7:30 PM
TUE MAR 31, 2015
LIGHTNING
MAPLE LEAFS
7:30 PM
APRIL 2015
DATE
VISITOR
HOME
TIME (ET)
THU APR 2, 2015
LIGHTNING
SENATORS
7:30 PM
SAT APR 4, 2015
LIGHTNING
PANTHERS
7:00 PM
TUE APR 7, 2015
CANADIENS
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
THU APR 9, 2015
DEVILS
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM
SAT APR 11, 2015
BRUINS
LIGHTNING
7:30 PM