The Tampa Bay Lightning will open their 18th National Hockey League season on Saturday, October 9 when they play host to the Atlanta Thrashers at 7:30 p.m. at the St. Pete Times Forum. They will then hit the road for a three-game trip that sends them to Montreal (Oct. 13), Philadelphia (Oct. 14) and Florida (Oct. 16).

Of the Lightning's 41 home dates at the St. Pete Times Forum, 18 will take place on Thursday, Friday or Saturday night.  Tampa Bay will play 17 sets of back-to-back games with none of them including two consecutive games at the Times Forum.  Of the 17, six will feature one game at home.  The Lightning's regular season concludes with back-to-back games Friday, April 8 at home against Florida and April 9 at Carolina.

Highlights of the home schedule include former Lightning forward Brad Richards' return to the St. Pete Times Forum with the Dallas Stars on October 18 as well as Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman's first game against his former team, the Detroit Red Wings, on February 17.  Tampa Bay will also have two games leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday (Nov. 22 vs. Boston, Nov. 24 vs. NY Rangers) and two games following Christmas (Dec. 28 vs. Boston, Dec. 30 vs. Montreal).  The Lightning will also host the NY Rangers on New Year's Day at 7:30 p.m.  The Bolts will play host to Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and the defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks on March 9.

Among the other notable home games are two visits by the defending Eastern Conference Champion Philadelphia Flyers February 1 and 15, as well as match-ups with the cross-state rival Panthers on November 27, February 19 and April 8.  The Lightning will play host to Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins October 27 and March 31 while Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals will visit on January 12, February 4 and March 7.
 
The Lightning will also play 12 consecutive home games from January 23 through February 25, a stretch that also includes a break for the NHL All-Star Game.  The streak of home games will be the longest in franchise history.

The best way to invest in 2010-11 tickets is through a Lightning ticket plan with ticket packages starting as low as $79.  For more information regarding ticket plans and pricing call 813.301.6600 or by visit www.tampabaylightning.com.  Groups of 20 or more are now on sale by calling 813.301.6900.  A single-game ticket on-sale date will be announced at a later time.
 
CLICK HERE TO VIEW FULL SCHEDULE