Raw Charge
Summary
(2) Tampa Bay Lightning (6-2-0, 12 PTS) Goals For: 25 (T-17thin the NHL); Goals Against: 21 (T-4th fewest in the NHL) *As of October 17th Last week: (2-1-0) Tuesday, October 13, 2026 NYR: 4 TBL: 1 Lightning lose (again) to the Rangers, 4-1 Thursday, October 15, 2026 SEA: 3 TBL: 4 (OT) Victor Hedman lifts Lightning to overtime win over Kraken, 4-3 Saturday, October 17, 2026 VAN: 2 TBL: 4 Kucherov’s two goals power Lightning’s 4-2 comeback win over Canucks Upcoming Schedule: Tuesday, October 20 – @ VGK, 10:30 p.m. ET Friday, October 23 – @ COL, 9 p.m. ET Saturday, October 24 – @ UTA, 9 p.m. ET The Lightning slipped to second in the Atlantic this week with a 2-1 overall record. Fortunately for Tampa Bay, they won’t be returning to Madison Square Garden again this season as the Lightning ended a four-game win-streak in New York on Tuesday. Both losses this season for Tampa Bay have been in The World’s Most Famous Arena. The Lightning then began a stretch of seven straight games against the Western Conference starting with back-to-back victories in Tampa with a 4-3 overtime win against Seattle on Thursday and a 4-2 victory over Vancouver on Saturday evening. The first trip out of The Empire State begins this week and the Bolts will be burning the midnight oil against Vegas on Tuesday and then a back-to-back against Colorado and Utah on Friday and Saturday. The Lightning will then get a four-day break and return home for one game before heading on the road again to finish October in Nashville. (1) Boston Bruins (7-2-0, 15 PTS) GF: 34 (T-4th); GA: 19 (3rd) Last Week: 3-0 Tuesday, October 13, 2026 BOS: 6 SJS: 3 Friday, October 16, 2026 BOS: 4 ANA: 2 Saturday, October 17, 2026 BOS: 4 LAK: 1 Recap: Bruins score three in the third to beat the Kings, 4-1 Upcoming Schedule: Tuesday, October 20 – @ DAL, 8 p.m. ET Thursday, October 22 – vs NSH, 7 p.m. ET Saturday, October 24 – vs SJS, 7 p.m. ET Boston finds themselves alone in first place this week and extended their win streak to five games. The Bruins went undefeated with a clean sweep out west against the California teams outscoring their opponents 14-6 starting with a 6-3 victory in San Jose on Tuesday and then back-to-back wins in Anaheim and Los Angeles, 4-2 and 4-1. Boston has one more game on the road in Dallas on Tuesday before returning back home for games against Nashville on Thursday and wrapping up their season series with San Jose (in only 11 days) on Saturday. The Bruins also will be facing majority Western Conference teams and only played one game against the Atlantic Division, a 4-1 loss to Ottawa, in the entire month of October. (3) Ottawa Senators (6-3-0, 12 PTS) GF: 24 (T-20th); GA: 23 (10th) Last week: (3-1-0) Monday, October 12, 2026 NJD: 1 OTT: 4 Sens Ride Dominant 2nd Period to Beat Devils 4-1 Tuesday, October 13, 2026 STL: 7 OTT: 2 Senators’ Winning Streak Ends in 7-2 Rout at the Hands of the Blues Thursday, October 15, 2026 NYI: 1 OTT: 2 (SO) Sens Defeat Islanders 2-1 in Artem Zub’s Return Saturday, October 17, 2026 PHI: 3 OTT: 1 Sens Hand the Flyers Their First Win of the Season Upcoming Schedule: Wednesday, October 21 – vs FLA, 7:30 p.m. ET Thursday, October 22 – vs SJS, 7 p.m. ET Saturday, October 24 – vs NYR, 7 p.m. ET Ottawa was up-and-down this week but still remain tied with the Lightning in second place with 12 points in the Atlantic. The Senators began the week with a 4-1 win in New Jersey on Monday but lost at home the following night to St. Louis. The Sens hosted the Islanders on Thursday and needed a shootout to decide that game with a 2-1 victory. Ottawa ending their week by giving the Philadelphia Flyers their first win of the season in Philly on Saturday. Ottawa and Florida will meet in Ottawa for a rare Atlantic Division tussle on Wednesday and the Sens will remain home all week with a game the following night against San Jose and wrap up their week against the Rangers on Saturday night. Ottawa will then head out west against the California teams to end October. (4) Florida Panthers (5-2-2, 12 PTS) GF: 30 (T-8th); GA: 25 (T-18th) Last week: (3-1-0) Monday, October 12, 2026 BUF: 5 FLA: 3 Panthers can’t keep up in 5-3 loss to Sabres Tuesday, October 13, 2026 CBJ: 3 FLA: 7 Tkachuks erupt in Panthers 7-3 rout of Blue Jackets Thursday, October 15, 2026 VAN: 2 FLA: 3 (OT) Brady’s bunch gives Panthers 3-2 overtime win over Canucks Saturday, October 17, 2026 SEA: 3 FLA: 8 Tricks keep coming in Panthers 8-3 rout of Kraken Upcoming Schedule: Wednesday, October 21 – @ OTT, 7:30 p.m. ET Thursday, October 22 – @ PIT, 7 p.m. ET Sunday, October 25 – @ CHI, 3 p.m. ET Florida capped their week off with a flurry of hat tricks. The Panthers began the week in Buffalo on Monday and lost 5-3 but would finish the week with three straight wins that saw four Panthers hat tricks starting with Brady Tkachuk scoring his first three goals in a Florida uniform in a 7-3 win in Columbus on Tuesday. Tkachuk would score all three Panthers goals back home against Vancouver on Thursday with two in the third and the game-winning hat trick goal in overtime. Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennet joined the hat trick parade with two in the same game as Florida pummeled Seattle 8-3 in Sunrise on Saturday. The Panthers are also tied with the Lightning and Senators in second with 12 points in the Atlantic. Florida’s next four games are all on the road with just two this week in a back-to-back with Ottawa and Pittsburgh on Wednesday and Thursday to cap off a relatively light week. (5) Buffalo Sabres (4-3-2, 10 PTS) GF: 27 (T-14th); GA: 34 (T-28th) Last week: (2-0-2) Monday, October 12, 2026 FLA: 3 BUF: 5 Sabres Overcome Loss of Dahlin, Fend Off Panthers 5-3 Tuesday, October 13, 2026 BUF: 3 MTL: 4 (SO) Sabres escape Montreal with a point, lose 4-3 in shootout Thursday, October 15, 2026 BUF: 5 TOR: 4 (OT) Sabres crunch Leafs in stunning comeback Saturday, October 17, 2026 BUF: 3 MTL: 4 (OT) Sabres come back again, but fall to Canadiens in overtime Upcoming Schedule: Wednesday, October 21 – vs PHI, 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday, October 24 – @ WSH, 7 p.m. ET Unlike the rest of the division, all four games for Buffalo this week were against Atlantic Division rivals starting on Monday with a 5-3 victory over Florida. The Sabres would play a lot of bonus hockey in their remaining three games that saw overtime in each. The Sabres rallied from a two goal 3rd Period deficit in Montreal on Tuesday before losing 4-3 in a shootout. Buffalo would rally again down by two in the third period in Toronto on Thursday and Owen Power gave Buffalo a 5-4 overtime win with his second overtime goal of the year. Buffalo then returned to Montreal on Saturday night and a theme has developed – Buffalo once again rallied to tie the game in the third period but the Canadiens were able to skate away with a 4-3 victory 54 seconds into overtime. There were a lot of Bettman Points given out in the Atlantic Division last week courtesy of the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres went from four games last week to only two this week at home against Philadelphia on Wednesday and then begin a road trip in D.C. on Saturday that will take them out west to wrap up their month of October. (6) Montreal Canadiens (4-3-1, 9 PTS) GF: 27 (T-14th); GA: 30 (24th) Last week: (2-1-0) Tuesday, October 13, 2026 BUF: 3 MTL: 4 (SO) Montreal recovers for a shootout win Wednesday, October 14, 2026 MTL: 4 WSH: 5 Habs don’t get rewarded for their best game of the season Saturday, October 17, 2026 BUF: 3 MTL: 4 (OT) Cole Caufield comes through on Saturday night Upcoming Schedule: Tuesday, October 20 – vs SJS, 7 p.m. ET Friday, October 23 – @ CHI Sunday, October 25 – @ WPG Montreal continued their up-and-down season with some high-scoring and entertaining games. As mentioned above in Buffalo’s recap, the Canadiens would blow two 3rd Period leads against Buffalo but both games ended with 4-3 overtime wins in Montreal on Tuesday and Saturday. Montreal squeezed in a game in Washington D.C. on Wednesday that was also high-scoring and back-and-forth affair that Washington would win 5-4 in regulation. Les Habitants have a marquee matchup this week. Their first game is at home against San Jose before going through the Central Division starting in Chicago on Friday night. They’ll take their game outdoors on Sunday night in Winnipeg in the 2026 Heritage Classic against the Jets. That’s always quite a spectacle. (7) Detroit Red Wings (3-3-2, 8 PTS) GF: 20 (T-27th); GA: 24 (T-11th) Last week: (2-0-1) Tuesday, October 13, 2026 NJD: 5 DET: 4 (OT) Thursday, October 15, 2026 PHI: 1 DET: 2 Saturday, October 17, 2026 SJS: 3 DET: 4 (SO) Upcoming Schedule: Tuesday, October 20 – @ SEA, 9:40 p.m. ET Thursday, October 22 – @ VAN, 10 p.m. ET Saturday, October 24 – @ CGY, 10 p.m. ET The Red Wings clawed their way out of the Atlantic Division basement with a 2-0-1 week with all three games decided by one goal. It started with a good effort to tie their game in the third period against New Jersey on Tuesday but the Wings would lose 5-4 in overtime. Detroit kept Philadelphia’s winless streak alive with a late goal in the third period on Thursday to defeat the Flyers 2-1. The Wings would once again rally in Detroit on Saturday with two in the third period to tie it at three and would seal the deal in a 4-3 shootout win against San Jose on Saturday. Detroit is heading to western Canada this week after playing in Seattle on Tuesday before ending the week in Vancouver on Thursday and Calgary on Saturday night. (8) Toronto Maple Leafs (3-4-2, 8 PTS) GF: 29 (T-10th); GA: 32 (26th) Last week: (0-2-1) Tuesday, October 13, 2026 UTA: 5 TOR: 4 Wednesday’s FTB: That was a very interesting road trip Thursday, October 15, 2026 BUF: 5 TOR: 4 (OT) Friday FTB: a roller coaster of emotions Saturday, October 17, 2026 NYI: 4 TOR: 1 Upcoming Schedule: Monday, October 19 – vs SJS Tuesday, October 20 – @ CBJ, 7 p.m. ET Thursday, October 22 – vs NYR, 7 p.m. ET Saturday, October 24 – @ EDM, 7 p.m. ET Toronto went winless last week and now find themselves in last place in the Atlantic. The Maple Leafs gave up 14 goals in their three losses beginning in Utah that saw their comeback bid come short in a 5-4 regulation loss to the former Hockey Club now known as the Mammoth. Toronto returned home and blew a two-goal third period lead and watched Buffalo finish the comeback with a 5-4 overtime loss on Thursday and wrapped up their week with a disappointing 4-1 loss at home against the Islanders on Saturday. Toronto will play four games this week with a back-to-back at home on Monday against San Jose and in Columbus on Tuesday. They’ll be back in Toronto on Thursday against the Islanders before beginning a trip to western Canada starting in Edmonton on Saturday night. Thanks for checking in on another weekly recap of the Atlantic Division. Be sure to check back next Monday!