Raw Charge
Summary
Lightning News Head coach Jon Cooper hosted the ninth Coop’s Catch for Kids fishing tournament yesterday, raising $500,000 for pediatric cancer research. The fishing tournament has now raised over $2 million to aid in cancer research. It was all in good fun but trophies were handed out (no official stats on the biggest fish) but it sure looks like Yanni Gourde has been making the most of his time while rehabbing his injury. [ The Hockey News ] It’s that time of year 🎣 We’re back on the water at Coop’s Catch for Kids, raising funds for pediatric cancer research! pic.twitter.com/OeRMMeMivm — Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) October 26, 2026 Justin picked up where we left off on the Raw Charge Top 20 Under 25 list with number four and three dropping yesterday. It’s nice to see some young up-and-coming talent with the Lightning. One of these players is making and impact with the Lightning already and the other seems like he may have a promising career ahead of him, too. [ #3 – Connor Geekie ] [ #4 – Benjamin Rautiainen ] Forward Zemgus Girgensons and Defensemen Victor Hedman were both injured on the recent road trip out west. Hedman missed the last game in Utah and Girgensons left the game against the Mammoth with an apparent lower-body injury. Neither appear to be out long term and one or both could be back on Thursday against Winnipeg. Zemgus Girgensons left the game at the end of the 2nd period, and he did not return. Here's his last shift… pic.twitter.com/49oR3mRFC4 — Bolts Breakdown (@BoltsBreakdown) October 25, 2026 We’ll stay on Nikita Kucherov becoming the franchise leader in points for a little while longer. Expect him to get a ceremony before the game on Thursday in his first game back in Tampa as the franchise leader. Benjamin Pierce put a great piece together for the Lightning official website about Kuch’s time with the Lightning. [ NHL ] At practice on Tuesday, the Lightning were sporting a slightly new look. While they were wearing their standard practice jerseys, the pants and helmets had a different shade of blue to them. Speculation is that these are the colors of their soon-to-be-announced Hometown Remix jerseys. Unlike several other teams in the league, the actual design hasn’t leaked just yet. In this Tampa Bay Times article, Eddie Encina notes that the Bolts have officially retired their black alternate jerseys. [ Tampa Bay Times ] Mixing it up 👀 pic.twitter.com/1gqhnpOrUf — Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) October 27, 2026 If you’re a collector of pucks like me, you can get one to commemorate Kucherov’s latest accomplishment from the Tampa Bay Sports Store. The #GoBolts @ShopTBSports team store at The Bench is selling pucks commemorating Nikita Kucherov setting the #TBLightning all-time scoring record for $11.99 each. pic.twitter.com/kOyJb4MZ7w — Eduardo A. Encina (@EddieInTheYard) October 27, 2026 League News The top two teams in the NHL met last night in Raleigh when the Hurricanes hosted the Bruins. Carolina controlled the majority of the play, outshooting Boston 30 to 15, but the Bruins hung around thanks to their backbone of great goaltending. Sebastian Aho would get the tie-breaking goal for the Canes midway through the 3rd Period and Carolina held on for the 2-1 win as goalie Pyotr Kochetkov made 14/15 saves to begin his season 8-0. [ Canes Country ] Newly acquired goaltender Connor Hellebuyck played in his first game with the New Jersey Devils last night in Dallas. It was his first game with the Devils after his tumultuous ending with Winnipeg and Hellebuyck made 16/17 saves in his debut. The Devils rallied behind their new tendy and won the game 5-1. [ All About The Jersey ] Penguins forward Ben Kindel returned to practice after having a frightening health scare aboard the team plane leaving Salt Lake City last week. Kindel was fortunate to be around team doctors and is hoping to return to action this weekend with the Penguins. [ Pensburgh ] The defending Champs finally brought back one of their key pieces from their championship run last year with the signing of RFA Alexander Nikishin. Nikishin played 81 games last year with the Hurricanes and set a new franchise record with 11 goals from the blue line. He signed a one year, $3 million deal after requesting a trade in the offseason when the two sides couldn’t agree on a deal. [ Canes Country ] I’m not sure how much I like this idea but the NHL has announced a “Monday Night Hockey” initiative to promote the league across Europe by having afternoon games in the U.S. to be broadcast at 7 or 8 p.m. in Europe. The first official game is on November 30th with the Predators hosting the Senators in Nashville at 1 p.m. ET. The Lightning will play the Capitals at Capital One Arena on March 15th. [ NHL ] Skipping over to the baseball world, the Tampa Bay Rays aren’t quite done yet. It took until after midnight, but they finally found a way to beat the Brewers. They still trail 3-1 in the series, but they’re still battling. Game Five is tonight at The Trop. Can they extend the season one more day? [ Draysbay ]