The Tampa Bay Lightning announced their 82-game regular season schedule for their 25 th anniversary 2017-18 season today. The Lightning's season opener will take place on Friday, October 6 as the Bolts host the Florida Panthers at AMALIE Arena. Tampa Bay will open the month of October with seven games on home ice and six on the road.

Click here to view the full 2017-18 schedule

The Lightning will play each of their Atlantic Division opponents four times, two at home and two on the road. The Bolts will travel to Las Vegas for their lone and first-ever meeting against the Golden Knights on Tuesday, December 19. Bolts fans will be able to see the new expansion team when they travel to AMALIE Arena on Thursday, January 18.

The Bolts will face off against the 2017 Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, October 12 at AMALIE Arena. The Penguins make two trips to Tampa during the month of October, while the Bolts travel to Pittsburgh once, for a November 25 match-up. In total, the Lightning will play each Metropolitan Division opponent three times. Tampa Bay will host the Penguins, New York Rangers, New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers twice, while visiting Columbus, Carolina, New Jersey and Washington on two occasions. The Lightning will once again play two games, one at home and one away, against each Western Conference team.

Tampa Bay will host the 2018 NHL All-Star Game during the weekend of January 27-29. The League's mid-season showcase will take place at AMALIE Arena and will include the NHL All-Star Skills Competition and the NHL All-Star Game.

Single game tickets will go on sale at a later date.

At AMALIE Arena

The Lightning will open 2017-18 with seven home contests at AMALIE Arena during the month of October. Down the stretch, the Lightning will play 14 of their final 20 games on home ice, including three during the month of April. With the exception of April (four games total), Tampa Bay will play their least number of home games during January, with just three of 12 contests at AMALIE Arena. The Lightning will host their longest home stand of the season with eight games from March 3 through March 20. The month of March will see the Lightning at home the most, with nine home games. In a rare occurrence, Tampa Bay will also play a pair of 1 p.m. matinee games during the month of March, on the 3rd versus Philadelphia and the 10th against Montreal.

On the Road

The Lightning will partake in seven road trips that are three games or more. Their longest road stretch is from January 20 through February 5, however it is broken up by the NHL All-Star Weekend. Their longest continuous road trip will be four games, which occurs five times. The Lightning's busiest month on the road will be January, which sees the team playing nine of their 12 games away from Tampa Bay.

Back-to-Back

The Bolts will play 13 back-to-back games in 2017-18, including two in which both games will be hosted at AMALIE Arena. The Lightning will play a total of eight times with both back-to-back scenarios being played on the road and three times with the contests being split home and away.

Monthly Breakdown

Month Home Away Total

October 7 6 13

November 5 7 12

December 8 5 13

January 3 9 12

February 6 8 14

March 9 5 14

April 3 1 4

Breakdown by Day

Day Home Away Total

Monday 3 5 8

Tuesday 6 10 16

Wednesday 2 2 4

Thursday 12 10 22

Friday 3 2 5

Saturday 13 9 22

Sunday 2 3 5

Fast Facts

The Lightning will play more home games on Saturday's than any other day

The Lightning will play more than half of their schedule on Thursdays and Saturdays, with 44 contests between the two days

The Bolts will play only two home games each on Sunday and Wednesday

The Lightning will play 13 of their first 15 games against Eastern Conference opponents

Tampa Bay doesn't have a home game on a Sunday until March 18

The Lightning's earliest home start times are for 1 p.m. matinees on both March 3 vs. Philadelphia and March 10 vs. Montreal

Click here to view the full 2017-18 schedule