NHL On Tap: Lightning set to host outdoor game for 1st time at Stadium Series

There are three games on the NHL schedule for Sunday, including two nationally televised in the United States and Canada. Here are the five things to watch today, along with the complete game schedule.

A pirate’s life for me

The Tampa Bay Lightning (34-14-4) will host an outdoor game for the first time when they face the Boston Bruins (32-20-3) at the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS). Life is good for the Lightning, who are first in the Atlantic Division and are expected to have captain Victor Hedman in the lineup for the first time since Dec. 9. Hedman has been recovering from elbow surgery but practiced Saturday. Tampa Bay has gone 17-3-2 without its top defenseman. Forward Nikita Kucherov is third in the NHL with 82 points (27 goals, 55 assists) in 48 games, and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is 24-7-3 with a 2.04 goals-against average, .921 save percentage and two shutouts in 34 games. It should be a fun night in Tampa.

Bruins also on big run

Not to be outdone, the Bruins are on quite a successful streak themselves; they are 10-1-1 in their past 12 games. Boston enters its sixth outdoor game trying to keep pace in a heated Stanley Cup Playoff race. The Bruins hold the second wild card in the Eastern Conference and trail the Lightning by five points in the Atlantic. So, as much as there’ll be plenty of pomp and circumstance in this outdoor game, Boston is on a mission to gain ground on Tampa Bay.

Duck Hunt

The Vegas Golden Knights (25-15-14) are still among the top teams in the Pacific Division, but they’ve lost six of seven (1-4-2) heading into their game against the host Anaheim Ducks (9:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN (JIIP), SN360, TVAS). It’s the second of a back-to-back for Vegas, which lost 3-2 at home to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday. The Golden Knights have three games remaining before the NHL breaks for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, and they want to enter the respite on a better note.

Kempe cooking

Adrian Kempe scored two goals for the Los Angeles Kings in a 3-2 overtime win at the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, giving the forward five consecutive 20-goal seasons since 2021-22. Kempe, who will represent Team Sweden at the Olympics, has five goals and three assists during a six-game point streak. That’s good news for Sweden and the Kings (23-17-13), who visit the Carolina Hurricanes (3 p.m. ET; FDSNW, FDSNSO, SN). The Hurricanes (33-15-6) lost 4-3 in overtime at the Washington Capitals on Saturday.

Ducks fly together

The Ducks (28-23-3) have lost their past two games after winning seven in a row. They have two games left before the Olympic break -- each at home -- and are 15-8-1 at Honda Center this season. Anaheim should have Troy Terry back in the lineup; the forward, who has missed 11 games with an upper-body injury, has 42 points (13 goals, 29 assists) this season.

The schedule

Los Angeles Kings at Carolina Hurricanes (3 p.m. ET; FDSNW, FDSNSO, SN)

Boston Bruins at Tampa Bay Lightning (6:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS)

Vegas Golden Knights at Anaheim Ducks (9:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN (JIIP), SN360, TVAS)