Raw Charge
Summary
(1) Tampa Bay Lightning (4-1-0, 8 PTS) Goals For: 16 (T-12th in the NHL)*; Goals Against: 12 (T-7th fewest in the NHL)* *As of October 11th Last week: (3-0-0) Monday, October 5, 2026 PHI: 1 TBL: 4 Four goalscorers lead Lightning to 4-1 victory over Flyers Thursday, October 8, 2026 MIN: 2 TBL: 3 Carlson scores twice as Lightning defeat Wild, 3-2 Saturday, October 10, 2026 TBL: 5 NYI: 3 Hagel’s hat trick bails Lightning out in 5-3 win over Islanders Upcoming Schedule: Tuesday, October 13 – @ NYR, 7:15 p.m. ET Thursday, October 15 – vs SEA, 7 p.m. ET Saturday, October 17 – vs VAN, 4 p.m. ET The Tampa Bay Lightning moved into 1st place by going 3-0 last week. The Bolts wrapped up a three-game undefeated homestand against Philadelphia and Minnesota at Benchmark and then stretched the win streak to four games on Saturday night on Long Island. The power play (10%, 26th in the NHL) and penalty kill (72.7%, 24th in the NHL) haven’t been clicking to start the season but the Lightning are winning behind some good 5v5 play and quality defensive play. Tampa Bay will be in New York City again on Tuesday night in the NHL’s Frozen Frenzy that will showcase all 32 franchises in action with staggered puck drops so the games are non-stop from beginning to end. The Lightning will then host the Kraken on Thursday and Canucks on Saturday afternoon to conclude their three games this week. (2) Ottawa Senators (4-1-0, 8 PTS) GF: 15 (T-14th); GA: 11 (T-4th) Last week: (3-1-0) Monday, October 5, 2026 OTT: 4 BOS: 1 Tim Stützle, Penalty Kill Dominate Bruins in 4-1 Win Tuesday, October 6, 2026 OTT: 3 DET: 5 Sens Lose 5-3 to Red Wings Thursday, October 8, 2026 PHI: 1 OTT: 2 Linus Ullmark Commits Bank Heist in 2-1 Win Over Philadelphia Flyers Saturday, October 10, 2026 NSH: 2 OTT: 3 (SO) Sens Battle Back, Defeat Predators 3-2 in Shootout Upcoming Schedule: Monday, October 12 – @ NJD, 7 p.m. ET Tuesday, October 13 – vs STL, 7:30 p.m. ET Thursday, October 15 – vs NYI, 7 p.m. ET Saturday, October 17 – @ PHI, 7 p.m. ET I did the Raw Charge season preview for Ottawa a few weeks ago and it made me realize that Ottawa could be a surprise team this year and they certainly started off out the gate on fire. The Senators went 3-1 last week and find themselves tied with the Lightning and Bruins with 8 points each in the standings. Tim Stutzle is leading the charge offensively with four goals and four assists in five games while Linus Ullmark is 4-0 in net with a .942 save percentage and 1.34 GAA. Ottawa has a busy schedule this week beginning tonight in New Jersey before returning for two home games against St. Louis and the Islanders and then hitting the road again with a game in Philadelphia on Saturday. The Sens will get a three day break before picking back up the following week at home. (3) Boston Bruins (4-2-0, 8 PTS) GF: 20 (T-8th); GA: 13 (T-9th) Last week: (2-1-0) Monday, October 5, 2026 OTT: 4 BOS: 1 RECAP: Bruins allegedly attend game in which they are beaten 4-1 Thursday, October 8, 2026 UTA: 1 BOS: 6 RECAP: B’s transition game, goaltending shines against Utah in 6-1 WIN! Saturday, October 10, 2026 PHI: 1 BOS: 5 Recap: Bruins spread scoring around, beat Flyers 5-1 Upcoming Schedule: Tuesday, October 13 – @ SJS, 11 p.m. ET Friday, October 16 – @ ANA, 10 p.m. ET Saturday, October 17 – @ LAK, 9 p.m. ET Boston is tied with the Lightning and Senators after two weeks with 8 points in the standings each. The Bruins had three home games and started off with their second straight 4-1 defeat at the hands of Ottawa on Monday before outscoring Utah and Philadelphia 11-2 in their last two games to remain tied atop the Atlantic Division. Boston begins a trip out west this week playing all three California teams and then one more road game the following week in Dallas before returning home on October 22nd. Six out of their next eight games will be on the road before finishing the month of October at home against Chicago on the 31st. (4) Toronto Maple Leafs (3-2-1, 7 PTS) GF: 20 (T-8th); GA: 18 (T-19th) Last week: (2-0-1) Tuesday, October 6, 2026 NSH: 4 TOR: 5 OT Wednesday’s FTB: What was that game? Thursday, October 8, 2026 TOR: 3 VGK: 4 (SO) Friday’s FTB: The early morning after the late night Saturday, October 10, 2026 TOR: 6 COL: 3 Sunday’s FTB: This space intentionally left Blank Upcoming Schedule: Tuesday, October 13 – @ UTA, 9 p.m. ET Thursday, October 15 – vs BUF, 7 p.m. ET Saturday, October 17 – vs NYI, 7 p.m. ET The Maple Leafs are back to their high-scoring ways this year with 3.33 GF/GP which is currently the 11th best in the NHL. Their big names are putting in work as Auston Matthews (4 goals, 6 assists) and William Nylander (5 goals, 6 assists) have a combined 9 goals and 21 points in their six games. Toronto wrapped up a 2-1 record this week in games that saw many goals being scored for both teams. The Leafs won a 5-4 back-and-forth overtime game against Nashville in Toronto on Tuesday before falling 4-3 in a shootout in Las Vegas on Thursday and outscoring the Avalanche 6-3 in Colorado on Saturday. Toronto wraps up their western trip on Tuesday in Salt Lake City before returning home on Thursday against Buffalo and finish this week on Saturday night against the New York Islanders. (5) Florida Panthers (2-1-2, 6 PTS) GF: 9 (T-28th); GA: 12 (T-7th) Last week: (1-1-0) Tuesday, October 6, 2026 FLA: 2 LAK: 1 Panthers finish costly trip with 2-1 win over Kings Saturday, October 10, 2026 MIN: 4 FLA: 1 Kaprizov goes Wild in Minnesota’s 4-1 win over Panthers Upcoming Schedule: Monday, October 12 – @ BUF, 1 p.m. ET Tuesday, October 13 – @ CBJ, 6:15 p.m. ET Thursday, October 15 – vs VAN, 7 p.m. ET Saturday, October 17 – vs SEA, 6 p.m. ET It was another rough week for the Panthers regarding their team’s health. The Panthers showed a lot of fight in their 2-1 victory in Los Angeles on Tuesday night that saw Brad Marchand go down with an ugly looking knee injury in only his second game this year. The Panthers announced he will be out for six weeks as a result of the play. The Panthers finally returned home on Saturday night for their home opener in Sunrise against the Minnesota Wild. The Wild scored 53 seconds into the game and never looked back as Kirill Kaprizov netted a hat trick and the Panthers dropped their home opener 4-1. The Panthers are once again on the road with some strange start times. I almost feel bad for them. They’ll be in Buffalo for a 1 p.m. start time on Monday and then in Columbus the following day for a 6:15 start time for the Frozen Frenzy. It’ll be interesting to see how the Panthers play in those rare weekday afternoon and evening games this week. Florida finally gets to string together a few games in the comfort of their own home in Sunrise against Vancouver and Seattle on Thursday and Saturday. Florida won’t get too comfortable as their next four games will be on the road before wrapping up the month of October at home against Winnipeg on the 30th. (6) Montreal Canadiens (2-2-1, 5 PTS) GF: 15 (T-14th); GA: 19 (T-24th) Last week: (1-2-0) Tuesday, October 6, 2026 CAR: 6 MTL: 4 Top Six Minutes: The Hurricanes have the Canadiens figured out Thursday, October 8, 2026 NSH: 5 MTL: 2 Top Six Minutes: A complete collapse Saturday, October 10, 2026 DET: 0 MTL: 1 (SO) Top Six Minutes: Jacob Fowler goes six-for-six in the shootout Upcoming Schedule: Tuesday, October 13 – vs BUF, 6:30 p.m. ET Wednesday, October 14 – @ WSH, 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday, October 17 – vs BUF, 7 p.m. ET Montreal began the week with back-to-back losses in Montreal against Carolina and Nashville, getting outscored 11-6 in the two games. Montreal fixed their defensive issues against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night, again in Montreal. Unfortunately for the Canadiens, the offense was having a difficult time in that one (it didn’t help that the refs took away three Canadiens goals, including one in OT). Fortunately for the Canadiens, goaltender Jacob Fowler single-handedly won the game for them with 30 saves in his second career shutout. Fowler then stopped all six shooters he faced in the shootout and Montreal came away with the 1-0 victory. Montreal concludes their current four game homestand against Buffalo on Tuesday before heading to America’s capital the next night against Washington. Buffalo will be back in Montreal again as the Habs wrap up their week on Saturday night. (7) Buffalo Sabres (2-3-0, 4 PTS) GF: 11 (T-23rd); GA: 19 (T-24) Last week: (1-2-0) Tuesday, October 6, 2026 MIN: 2 BUF: 3 (OT) Sabres Tame Wild In Third Period Comeback Thursday, October 8, 2026 DAL: 4 BUF: 0 Sabres come up empty as Stars shut down Buffalo Saturday, October 10, 2026 UTA: 4 BUF: 1 Sabres continue to have a Mammoth headache Upcoming Schedule: Monday, October 12 – vs FLA, 1 p.m. ET Tuesday, October 13 – @ MTL, 6:30 p.m. ET Thursday, October 15 – @ TOR, 7 p.m. ET Saturday, October 17 – @ MTL, 7 p.m. ET Last year was quite a surprise for the Buffalo Sabres. It didn’t begin very promising as the Sabres struggled in the first few months before firing their GM in December of 2025. This year has also been a struggle for Buffalo to get going. The Sabres are 24th in the NHL in goals scored per game (2.5) and are 26th in the NHL in goals allowed per game (3.8) so far. Buffalo was home all last week and started with a come-from-behind OT win against Minnesota but lost their last two games to Dallas and Utah by a combined 8-1 score. Buffalo plays four Atlantic Division rivals this week starting with Florida at 1 p.m. today in Buffalo before spending the rest of the week across the Canadian border with three games against Montreal on Tuesday, Toronto on Thursday and again in Montreal on Saturday night. (8) Detroit Red Wings (1-3-1, 3 PTS) GF: 10 (T-26th); GA: 15 (T-15th) Last week: (1-1-1) Tuesday, October 6, 2026 OTT: 3 DET: 5 Friday, October 9, 2026 SEA: 6 DET: 3 Saturday, October 10, 2026 DET: 0 MTL: 1 (SO) Upcoming Schedule: Tuesday, October 13 – vs NJD, 6 p.m. ET Thursday, October 15 – vs PHI, 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday, October 17 – vs SJS, 7 p.m. ET Detroit once again remains in last place in the Atlantic Division and seems poised to remain there all year. The Wings got their first victory of the year with the return of former Captain Dylan Larkin against the Senators on Tuesday. Larkin recorded a goal and assist to help secure their first win of the season. That was the end of the good times in Detroit as they dropped their remaining two games with a 6-3 loss in Detroit to Seattle on Friday night before not generating much offense in a 1-0 shootout loss in Montreal on Saturday night that saw the Wings go 0-6 in the shootout. The Red Wings will be in Detroit this whole week with games against New Jersey on Tuesday, Philadelphia on Thursday and wrapping up the homestand on Saturday against San Jose prior to heading out west next week. Are there any Atlantic teams that have surprised you so far this season? Will you be watching the Frozen Frenzy on Tuesday? Did you even know it was happening? The NHL is notorious for their lack of marketing with marquee events such as the Frozen Frenzy. ESPN will be master of ceremonies and will take you from game-to-game around the league including a triple-header of broadcasts with coverage beginning at 5 p.m. Thanks for stopping by again this week! Be sure to check back next Monday for Week 3’s recap.