May 1, 2025, was the beginning of the long Summer for the Ottawa Senators after their six-game series loss in the first round of the 2025 playoffs against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now, the wait is over.
The Tampa Bay Lightning will always offer as a challenge to play against on the road during a season. However, it's the first of 82 games for the Senators to start up the 2025-26 regular season.
Sens face Bolts in the Bay to begin 2025-26 season
The Senators travel to Benchmark International Arena to take on the Lightning in the 2025-26 season opener. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
After Saturday's 3-1 road win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre, the Senators concluded the 2025 preseason 3-3-0 overall. Now, the regular season has arrived at long last.
With captain Brady Tkachuk leading the way with his dynamic German forward Tim Stutzle, higher expectations are on the Senators after ending their eight-year playoff drought last season. Stutzle mentioned in back in September that he and the Senators want to be a consistent playoff team in the future. Tonight is the first step to being a consistent playoff team.
This season is also the first full season of having Dylan Cozens and Fabian Zetterlund as a Senator. Along with Cozens and Zetterlund each having their first full season ahead as a Senator, this season is also Travis Green's second season as Senators head coach.
The Lightning are looking to improve from their 102-point season from last year. Led by back-to-back Art Ross Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov, the Lightning will be a top team to beat in the Eastern Conference this season. However, even with having 102 points last season and Kucherov on the team, the Lightning have been eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the past three seasons.
The Senators and Lightning played each other four times last season. Each team won two games against each other, and both wins each team had against each other were on home ice. The last meeting between the two teams was a 2-1 Senators win on April 3 at Canadian Tire Centre.
Drake Batherson and Tyler Kleven will both not play for the Senators. Both players went on IR on Monday, now both of them will miss the first game of the new season. The Senators are hopeful Batherson can play on Saturday night against the Florida Panthers, but Kleven didn't make the road trip to Florida.