Inside The Rink Game Day Preview
Tampa Bay Lightning at Carolina Hurricanes
Date: Friday, October 11
Lenovo Center – Raleigh, North Carolina
Time: 7:00 pm
TV: ESPN+, Hulu
DraftKings Sportsbook Betting Lines:
Tampa Bay +1.5 ML +114
Carolina -1.5 ML -135
O/U 6.5
Purchase tickets via Ticketmaster
Tampa Bay Lightning Notes:
Last season, the team finished with a record of 45-29-8. That earned them 98 points, which was good for fourth in the highly competitive Atlantic Division and got them the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. They were ousted by the eventual Stanley Cup champion, Florida Panthers, in the first round. The Lightning left the Tampa area on the Oct 7 due to Hurricane Milton, and Saturday’s home opener has been postponed indefinitely.
Carolina Hurricanes Notes:
The Canes have won their last five season openers (2019-23), and they are undefeated in regulation (6-0-2) in their previous eight contests (2016-23), marking the longest streak of season-opening games with a point in franchise history.
Tampa Bay Lightning Lineup:
Guentzel-Point-Kucherov
Hagel-Cirelli-Paul
Chaffee-Glendening-Girgensons
Sheary-Geekie-Atkinson
Hedman-Moser
McDonagh-Cernak
Lilleberg-Perbix
Vasilevskiy
Johansson
Carolina Hurricanes Lineup:
Jarvis-Aho-Roslovic
Svechnikov-Kotkaniemi-Necas
Martinook-Staal-Carrier
Robinson-Drury-Blake
Slavin-Burns
Orlov-Chatfield
Gostisbehere-Walker
Andersen
Kochetkov
Players To Watch:
Tampa Bay – Nikita Kucherov scored 2-5—7 in two games versus Carolina last year, including a 6-point night on Nov. 24. He leads active Lightning players in career points (35) against the ‘Canes.
Carolina – Sebastian Aho was a big player for Carolina last season, with 89 points in 78 games. Seth Jarvis had 67 points (0.8 per game), scoring 33 goals and adding 34 assists.
Injuries:
Tampa Bay – Eyssimont (Lower Body)
Carolina – Fast (Neck – LTIR)
Next game
Tampa Bay – October 15 vs Vancouver at 7 pm.
Carolina – October 15 vs New Jersey at 7 pm.
