Tampa Bay Lightning 2014-15 schedule released

The Tampa Bay Lightning have announced their 82-game regular season schedule for the 2014-15 season today. The Lightning's 22nd season will open with a three-game homestand that kicks off on Thursday, October 9 against the Florida Panthers at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. The Lightning's first seven opponents to start the season failed to make the postseason last year.

Tampa Bay will play each of their Atlantic Division opponents four times, two at home and two on the road, with the exception of Montreal (two home, three away) and Buffalo (three home, two away). The Lightning play all five games against their opponent from the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs in the new year, with the first meeting taking place on Tuesday, January 6 at Bell Centre. Of the Lightning's final 20 games, 16 will be played against Atlantic Division opponents.

The Lightning will again play each of their non-division opponents within the Eastern Conference three times. Of the eight non-divisional opponents, the Bolts will play the New Jersey Devils, Carolina Hurricanes, Washington Capitals and Columbus Blue Jackets at the Times Forum on two occasions. Tampa Bay hosts Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, December 23, their final game before the Christmas break.

Similar to last season, Tampa Bay will play two games, one at home and one on the road, against each Western Conference team. That includes the Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings, who will visit the Times Forum on Saturday, February 7 for a 5 p.m. puck-drop.

Fans can catch all the action in 2014-15 by becoming a Lightning Season Ticket Member or by joining the Lightning's new exclusive Blue Line Club. This new club and its amenities will be offered to full Season Ticket Members (STMs) sitting above row K in sections between the blue lines for all games next season. Blue Line Club members will receive a replica Steven Stamkos third jersey (one per seat), VIP garage parking (one for every four season tickets), a $10 food and beverage credit for every seat for each game ($440 for the season) in concession credit to be pre-loaded on each jersey or a special season ticket member ID card. Current Lightning STM's needing to renew their seats and hockey fans looking to purchase new season tickets are encouraged to visit bethethunder.com or call the Lightning sales team at 813.301.6600.

The Lightning will kick their 2014-15 season off with three consecutive games at the Times Forum, beginning with their home opener on October 9 versus the Panthers. Tampa Bay will play six consecutive home games beginning on March 14 against the Winnipeg Jets, which is the Lightning's longest homestand of the season. The Bolts will finish the regular season with three home games in a row, including their season-finale matchup against the Boston Bruins on Saturday, April 11. The Lightning will play 12 of their final 19 games at the Times Forum.

ON THE ROAD

The Bolts will make four, five-game road trips during the 2014-15 regular season. Tampa Bay's first road trip of the season is a five-game trip that sees them travel to Western Canada and will play five Western Conference opponents. The Bolts travel out west to take on the three California based teams in mid-February, part of a five-game road trip that also sees the Lightning take on Phoenix and Colorado. Tampa Bay finishes their road portion of the schedule with a five-game trip, all against Atlantic Division rivals.

BACK-TO-BACK

The Lightning will play 12 sets of back-to-back games in 2014-15, including one in which both games will be hosted at the Times Forum (February 7 vs. LA Kings/February 8 vs. Anaheim Ducks). The Bolts will play a total of 11 times with back-to-back games being played on the road. Tampa Bay will play in a pair of back-to-back scenarios during a six-game span during their five-game road trip in mid-December.

2014-15 Tampa Bay Lightning schedule