Steven Stamkos will return to Amalie Arena on October 28th with the Nashville Predators

On Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Lightning announced the team’s 2024-25 regular season schedule. The schedule consists of a full 82-game campaign that features the Bolts opening the season on the road with a matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Friday, October 11. The two teams will face off the following day at AMALIE Arena for Tampa Bay’s home opener on Saturday, October 12.

The Bolts will play six of their first 10 games on home ice. They will take on each team in their division four times, with the exceptions of the Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens, which they will play on three occasions. The will play opponents from the Metropolitan Division three times each and battle each Western Conference opponent twice (once home and once away), including the newest NHL franchise, the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday, March 22 before traveling to AMALIE Arena for the second matchup of the season on Thursday, March 27.

The Bolts will play an even split of 41 home and road games once again and will have their longest home stand of the season with five consecutive games at AMALIE Arena from January 28 through February 6. The longest road trips of the year will consist of four games, with Tampa Bay set to tackle four separate, four-game trips in 2024-25.

The Lightning will play a total of 12 back-to-back matchups while only one set will feature consecutive contests at AMALIE Arena, a December 28 game against the New York Rangers and a December 29 tilt versus the Canadiens. Seven of the 12 back-to-backs will see both games played on the road, while four will be split with one matchup as the home team and the other as the visitor.

The Bolts will play a total of 15 games during their busiest months of the season in January and March, with March featuring seven games at AMALIE Arena, tied with November for the most games at home in a single month in 2024-25. Conversely, the Lightning’s busiest month away from home will be January, which will see Tampa Bay skate in 10 contests on the road.