Defenseman Charles-Édouard D’Astous. Photo courtesy of Hannah Walls.
What to expect at the Tampa Bay Lightning’s home opener for the 2026-2027 season.
By Wandalie Marie
TAMPA, Fla. — On Saturday, Oct. 3, the Tampa Bay Lightning will play their first home game of the regular season against the Washington Capitals in the Benchmark International Arena at 7 p.m.
Thunder Alley, the main entrance plaza to the arena and where the Lightning community gets together, will open at 3 p.m. to celebrate the season’s home opener.
At Thunder Alley, attendees will get to take photos with the trophies awarded to the Lightning players and coach at the end of last season. John Cooper, the Lightning’s coach, took home the Jack Adams Trophy; Andrei Vasilevskiy won the Vezina Trophy, which is awarded to the best goalkeeper; and Nikita Kucherov earned the Hart Memorial Trophy by being the most valuable player on his team.
Starting at 3:45 p.m., this year’s Lightning players will walk the blue carpet into the arena. Walking the blue carpet is a Lightning tradition that allows the community to get their first close look at this season’s team.
The pregame show and introductions will start at 6:45 p.m., but the National Hockey League (NHL) recommends attendees get to their seats by at least 6:30 p.m. so they don’t miss a thing.
For college students planning to attend the game, student rush tickets, which are discounted standing-room-only tickets to home games, are available for purchase at 10 a.m. on game days with a student email. The Benchmark International Arena is a 20-minute walk from the University of Tampa, but students can cut down that time by walking 10 minutes to the nearest TECO Streetcar stop and get free transportation to and from the arena.
While the home opener will give Lightning fans their first look at this season’s team, the preseason games offered some insight into what they can expect.
The Lightning played four preseason games but never played their opening night lineup like many other teams in the league.
According to the NHL, “The Lightning were particularly strong in the faceoff circle as a team, winning 60% of the draws.”
On the other hand, the Capitals played most of their opening night roster in a preseason game against the Boston Bruins, which ended in a 3-2 win for the Capitals. They ended their preseason on the road and are starting the regular season with two away games.
“They played their asses off in a real difficult situation, on the road to begin with, and against essentially Philly’s opening night lineup,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery told Mike Vogel.
John Carlson will play his first game with the Lightning against the Capitals, his former team. Carlson started his NHL career with the Capitals and played with them for 13 seasons before he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks.
Thursday night, the Lightning played against the New York Rangers in their first regular-season game and lost 5-1.
The Lightning were eliminated from the 2026 playoffs in Game 7 of the first round by the Canadiens. Going into the new season with new players, this home opener will be telling for the team’s chances at this year’s playoffs.