After a bumpy regular season start with six losses and five wins in October, the Tampa Bay Lightning aim for more positive results in November. The three-game road trip concluded with two victories, 4-2 in Utah and 6-3 in Las Vegas, and a 3-2 loss in Denver. Before crossing paths with the Golden Knights, Brandon Hagel logged nine points (four goals and five assists) in 13 contests and eight points in his last six games. He added two goals and one assist in Nevada.
As the Tampa Bay Lightning’s collective struggles continue, nothing has stopped Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov, Hagel, and others from achieving individual milestones.
Points & Games
Mitchell Chaffee – 100 games on Oct. 11
Brandon Hagel – 300 points on Oct.25
Victor Hedman – 800 points on Oct. 25
Nikita Kucherov – 1000 points on Oct. 25
Antony Cirelli – 300 points on Oct. 28
Charle-Edouard D’Astous – first NHL goal on Oct. 28
Dominic James – first NHL goal and assist on Nov.6
NHL Debuts
Curtis Douglas – Oct. 9
Dominic James – Oct. 23
Charle-Édouard D’Astous – Oct. 25
The Bolts will stay home for almost two weeks with five games in Tampa and one short trip to Sunrise to challenge the in-state rival Florida Panthers. They will have some high-caliber visitors from Washington, New York, and Edmonton.
The Capitals will play the Lightning on Saturday, November 8. It will be an intriguing matchup as some fans will be excited to see Alexander Ovechkin, who broke Wayne Gretzky’s all-time scoring record with 895 goals. Ovechkin isn’t as fast or sharp as he was 15 years ago, but he achieved another milestone on Nov. 5 by becoming the first player in NHL history to reach 900 goals. Interestingly, the Bolts’ 6-3 win over the Golden Knights moved them up from 13th to ninth place, one spot above the Capitals.
Lightning vs. Capitals History
Nikita Kucherov isn’t the most productive player against the Washington Capitals, but he did score his 100th career NHL goal against them on March 18, 2019. In the last five matchups, Kucherov has recorded four assists. He doesn’t have as many goals (362) as Ovechkin in his career, but he recently became the second player in Lightning history to score 1000 points.
Ovechkin has had some memorable games against the Lightning. On Dec. 10, 2013, he scored four goals on Ben Bishop (394, 395, 396, and 397). In December 2015, Bishop allowed two more goals from Ovechkin (490 and 491).
Andrei Vasilevskiy got his first “surprise” from Ovi on November 27, 2015 (487). The first time the Big Cat allowed two goals from the Capital’s captain was on March 16, 2019 (654 and 655). Most recently, the Lightning goalie missed Ovechkin’s tally #884 on March 1, 2025. Overall, two countrymen faced each other 20 times in regular-season games, with Ovechkin scoring 11 goals on Vasilevskiy. He probably will start on Saturday. If he does, it will be Vasilevskiy’s sixth in seven games. The Capitals’ captain has 10 points in 14 contests this season.
One thing is for sure: it will be a hot on-ice battle of overachievers.