tbl-One More For The Road, Well, On The Road

Summary

The Tampa Bay Lightning’s preseason comes to an end in Sunrise tonight as they take on the Florida Panthers just a couple of days after the two teams met in Tampa. With the majority of the assumed regular season starters on both teams having hit their two-game maximum, tonight’s tilt should resemble a Syracuse Crunch versus Charlotte Checkers game more than a NHL contest. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth a watch, especially for Lightning fans. If the lines from the morning skate are to be believed, it doesn’t look like The Kid Line will ride together. While Sam O’Reilly and Benjamin Rautiainen are together, Conor Geekie gets bumped up to the second line. Noah Steen will join O’Reilly and Rautiainen while Jakob Pelletier and Gage Goncalves will flank Geekie. Jumping into the line-up will be Lucas Mercuri, who suffered an injury in the prospect showcase and has been working his way back up to game speed. It’s also nice to see Jarred Tinordi get a go on the ice. The 34-year-old defenseman is on an AHL contract with the Crunch after he put up 2 goals, 6 assists in 44 games with Syracuse last season. A former first-round pick, Tinordi has 205 games of NHL experience, but hasn’t seen NHL action since 2023-24. #GoBolts lines: Holmberg-Girgensons-Viel Pelletier-Geekie-Goncalves Steen-O’Reilly-Rautiainen Duke-Mercuri-Abruzzese D’Astous-Crozier Tinordi-Callahan Groshev-Pietroniro Hildeby Sogaard pic.twitter.com/dG3ElMyAw5 — Benjamin Pierce (@BenjaminJReport) September 26, 2026 On the other side of the ice, the Panthers’ roster should resemble the one they rolled out Thursday night in their 5-3 win over the Bolts. Tonight's roster for our preseason game vs Tampa ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/VjJiqOiyzA — Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) September 26, 2026 The Lightning will likely make their final personnel moves over the next couple of days as they have to have their roster compliant prior to the start of the season on Tuesday. With a couple of the remaining players in camp having to clear waivers before they can be sent to Syracuse, expect the moves to come quickly.