Lightning open season at Rangers with new practice combinations
Harkins skated between Hagel and Guentzel on Wednesday as Tampa Bay prepared for its Thursday opener at Madison Square Garden.
The Tampa Bay Lightning begin their 2026-27 season at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers on Thursday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m. ET. The club's Wednesday practice offered a look at its combinations before the opener, with the lines still subject to change.
Jansen Harkins centred Brandon Hagel and Jake Guentzel, while Ilya Mikheyev joined Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov. Anthony Cirelli skated between Gage Goncalves and Conor Geekie. The other forward unit consisted of Jeffrey Viel, Zemgus Girgensons and Pontus Holmberg.
On defence, Tampa Bay paired J.J. Moser with John Carlson and Victor Hedman with Charle-Edouard D'Astous. Ryan McDonagh worked with Erik Cernak, and Emil Lilleberg with Max Crozier. The club listed Andrei Vasilevskiy and Dennis Hildeby as its goaltenders.
Tampa Bay went 1-2-0 against New York last season. Kucherov recorded three assists in the three meetings.
The Spot (Tampa Bay 66) carries the game locally, with its pregame show beginning at 6 p.m. ET.
