The Tampa Bay Lightning preseason schedule for the 2016-17 season was officially announced Monday, though the team is not too far from a bitter Game 7 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final.
The slate features three home tilts and three on the road, including one each in Raleigh, North Carolina; Sunrise, Florida; and Nashville. That pits them against the two closest regional rivals, the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes.
The one oddity in there is that they will play three straight days, which likely means they’ll run a split squad through that stretch. That would allow for something close to final roster decision to come after the third game (their fourth preseason game overall) so that they can field what is roughly their opening night lineup in their final two preseason contests. The first of those final two comes five days after the last night of their three-game run.
Here’s the full preseason slate for the Bolts.
Tuesday, September 27 — vs. Carolina Hurricanes
Thursday, September 29 — vs. Florida Panthers
Friday, September 30 — @ Carolina Hurricanes
Saturday, October 1 — @ Nashville Predators
Thursday, October 6 — @ Florida Panthers
Saturday, October 8 — vs. Nashville Predators
