The Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers start the 2022-23 NHL season with both teams looking to have big seasons. The Lightning appeared in the Stanley Cup Final for the third consecutive season but lost in six games to the Colorado Avalanche and are hoping to step up and win their third title in four seasons. The Rangers took a big leap last season as they reached the Eastern Conference Final but after losing to the Lightning, they hope to take that next step in hopes of winning the Stanley Cup. Both teams are poised to have great seasons and the opening night game should be a great one as a result.
The Lightning have been the model franchise in the NHL in recent seasons, winning the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021 while appearing in the Final last year. The hope is that the offense, which scored 3.48 goals per game last season, can remain potent as the team lost Ondrej Palat in free agency. The team will turn to Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, and Nikita Kucherov to help lead the offense as the trio combined for 95 goals and 138 assists last season to fuel the top two lines while defenseman Victor Hedman looks to continue adding a spark from the point after scoring 20 goals and 65 assists last season.
Along with hoping the offense remains great, the Lightning will look to play well on the defensive end of the ice despite trading away Ryan McDonagh in the offseason. Victor Hedman and Mikhail Sergachev lead the top two pairings but the team will look for Jan Rutta, Erik Cernak, and offseason additio n Ian Cole can round out the unit and continue to provide the Lightning with one of the best defensive units in the league. Moreover, goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy remains one of the league's best goaltenders and looks to build off a season where he had a .916 save percentage and a 2.49 goals-against average on 1868 shots.