Nuts & Bolts: 2020-21 season begins against Chicago

A new season begins with a matchup against a new division rival as the Lightning open the 2020-21 season on Wednesday night against the Blackhawks.

When: Wednesday, January 13 - 8 p.m. ET
Where:Amalie Arena - Tampa, FL
TV coverage: NBCSN (check local listings)
Radio coverage: WFLA 970-AM,
Lightning Power Play
Where to stream it:
NBC Sports Live
or
NHL.TV
Lines from Tuesday's Practice (Subject to Change)
Forwards
Ondrej Palat - Brayden Point - Steven Stamkos
Alex Killorn - Anthony Cirelli - Mathieu Joseph
Blake Coleman - Yanni Gourde - Barclay Goodrow
Pat Maroon - Mitchell Stephens - Alexander Volkov
Defensemen
Victor Hedman - Jan Rutta
Ryan McDonagh - Cal Foote
Mikhail Sergachev - Erik Cernak
Andreas Borgman - Ben Thomas
Goaltenders
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Curtis McElhinney
Wednesday's Matchup
Tampa Bay opens the 2020-21 regular season by hosting the Chicago Blackhawks at AMALIE Arena...The Lightning are opening the season against an opponent other than the Florida Panthers for the first time since the 2016-17 opener against Detroit (a 6-4 win)...The Bolts are opening the season against the Blackhawks for just the second time in franchise history; the first came in the franchise's first ever game, a 7-4 victory at Expo Hall, powered by a four-goal night by Chris Kontos, still tied for the team record for most goals ever in a game (also: Martin St. Louis, 4 goals 1/18/14 vs. SJS), to start the 1992-93 campaign...The Lightning went 1-1-0 against Chicago during the 2019-20 regular season...The Bolts defeated the Blackhawks 4-2 in Chicago Nov. 21, 2019 in a game they never trailed, Mikhail Sergachev (PP), Anthony Cirelli, Brayden Point and Cedric Paquette (ENG) all scoring for the Lightning and Curtis McElhinney stopping 32-of-34 shots for his third victory of the season and third-straight win...Chicago downed Tampa Bay 5-2 at AMALIE Arena Feb. 27, 2020, the Blackhawks scoring five-consecutive goals, all in the third period, after falling behind 2-0 just :17 seconds into the third...The Lightning had won eight in a row in the regular season over Chicago and were on a 16-game regular season point streak against the Blackhawks (14-0-2), their last regulation loss coming Dec. 13, 2009 in a 4-0 defeat at Chicago, until that loss in their last meeting...The Bolts had won eight in a row in the regular season at home over the Blackhawks until that loss in their last meeting, their previous last home loss to the Hawks coming Feb. 17, 2009, a 5-3 defeat in which Steven Stamkos had all three goals for Tampa Bay for his first career hat trick...Tampa Bay owns a 23-15-3 record with five ties in 46 all-time meetings against Chicago, its .587 points percentage against the Blackhawks fifth highest among all NHL opponents...Tampa Bay shares a conference with Chicago this season for the first time since the franchise's first year of existence in 1992-93 when both teams were members of the Norris Division in the Clarence Campbell Conference.
Wednesday's Storylines
The Lightning are opening the regular season at home for the seventh-consecutive year and are 6-0-0 in their previous six regular season openers, outscoring their opponents 23-14...The Lightning are 18-7-0 with two ties all-time in season openers and own the NHL's best points percentage in season-opening contests (.704)...Tampa Bay is the 11th team in NHL history to win at least six consecutive season openers and first since SJS (2010-11 to 2016-17)...The Bolts' last loss in a season opener came in 2013-14, a 3-1 defeat at Boston... Tampa Bay's last loss in a season opener at home came in the 2001-02 opener, a 3-2 loss to the NY Islanders (TBL suffered a 2-1 setback to the NY Rangers to open the 2008-09 season in a contest that was technically a home game but was played at the O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic)...The Lightning are 17-7-1 with two ties all-time in home openers and have won eight-straight home openers, their last defeat coming in the 2011-12 home opener against Florida (7-4 loss)...Tampa Bay opens the 2020-21 regular season on a four-game homestand...The Lightning are searching for their first regular season victory since a 5-3 win at Boston March 7, 2020 (TBL lost its final two reg. season games of 2019-20, a 5-4 shootout loss March 8 at DET and 2-1 loss March 10 at TOR, before the NHL pause).
Injuries
2020-21 Regular Season Man Games Lost: 0
Current injuries
Nikita Kucherov (Hip surgery Dec. 29; Out)
The Road Ahead
Friday, January 16 vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Tuesday, January 19 vs. Dallas Stars
Thursday, January 21 at Columbus Blue Jackets
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