Welcome to NHL On Tap, a daily look at the games on the NHL schedule. There are four games on the schedule Friday, one of which will be nationally televised in the United States and Canada.
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Games of the day
Tampa Bay Lightning at Carolina Hurricanes (7 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+, SNP)
The Lightning will have to find a way to focus on hockey at a time when their thoughts and hearts have been pulled back to what is going on back home in Tampa. Hurricane Milton blew through their home region Wednesday, making landfall at night as a Category 3 storm near Siesta Key, Florida, which is roughly 65 miles south of Tampa, according to the National Hurricane Center. The Lightning have been in Raleigh since Monday to avoid the storm, but they have been getting reports on what the situation is like back home since Thursday morning. It has been stressful, but now they have to get back to the business at hand. The Lightning and Hurricanes each will be playing their season opener at Lenovo Center. It will be forward Jake Guentzel's first game with the Lightning, and it will come against the team he finished last season with. Guentzel should be on a line with Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov. It also will be defenseman Victor Hedman's first game as Lightning captain. He took over that role from Steven Stamkos, who signed a four-year contract with the Nashville Predators on July 1. The Lightning and Hurricanes were supposed to play a home-and-home, with a game in Tampa Bay on Saturday, but that game was postponed because of the ongoing hurricane relief efforts in the region.
Philadelphia Flyers at Vancouver Canucks (10 p.m. ET; SNP, NBCSP)
All eyes will be on Flyers rookie forward Matvei Michkov, who will be making his NHL debut against the Canucks at Rogers Arena. Michkov, 19, was the No. 7 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. He signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Flyers on July 1 after having the final two seasons of his Kontinental Hockey League contract terminated. He had a strong preseason, emboldening opinions of pundits who have him as the favorite to win the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year. The Flyers also should have 18-year-old rookie forward Jett Luchanko in the lineup. Luchanko was the No. 13 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft and joins San Jose Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini (No. 1 pick) as the only two 2024 draft picks to make opening night lineups. The Canucks (0-0-1) are coming off a 6-5 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames on Wednesday, when they had leads of 3-0 and 4-1 in the first period. Brock Boeser called the Canucks play after taking the lead "unacceptable," and J.T. Miller referred to it as "summer hockey." Canucks coach Rick Tocchet called it a "loose game" and said the Canucks would learn from it.
