en-us SportSpyder - The Latest Tampa Bay Lightning News https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/news It’s bad news for the Tampa Bay Lightning, but it’s not the worst-case scenario. The team that is quietly in […] Wed, 11 Nov 2026 05:09:38 GMT Sydney Wills https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58643323 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58643323 false false For nearly two decades, Victor Hedman has been one of the defining figures of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The franchise’s […] Wed, 11 Nov 2026 04:11:09 GMT Sydney Wills https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58642982 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58642982 false false Brayden Point will be sidelined for the Tampa Bay Lightning after exiting the game against the Jets. With ongoing third-line struggles, losing their top cent... Wed, 11 Nov 2026 00:25:13 GMT Locked On Lightning https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58641394 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58641394 false false Sometimes when you hear breaking news, your mind tends to wander off in weird directions. For instance, while wildly busy at our day job, we happened to look our phone and notice that the Tampa Bay Lightning had recalled Sam O’Reilly from the Syracuse Crunch. O’Reilly will take the roster spot vacated by Brayden Point, who was placed on injured reserve. Now, our first thought was, can we leave work early in order to write about it? The answer to that was no. Our second thought was, did he get recalled early enough to have his rookie card inserted into Series II of this year’s Upper Deck flagship product? The answer to that is – maybe? Chances are he’ll be in the extended edition, but there is a small chance they can work him into the product. Of course, when a piece of cardboard with his likeness on it is a fairly inconsequential part of his career equation, but it’s been awhile since the Lightning have had a rookie that can command more than a few bucks on secondary market in the hockey card world. The O’Reilly call-up did catch us a little by surprise as well. It was our opinion (that we’ll express on the next Backchecking the Bolts podcast) that Dominic James, Lucas Mercuri, or Jakob Pelletier would be ahead of O’Reilly on the recall list. In fact, we were quite adamant about it. It’s not necessarily because of his play just twelve games into his pro career. It’s the fact that he’s only had 12 games. The Bolts are normally pretty careful with their prospects, and we’ve been pretty consistent in the belief that the 20-year-old would be best served spending the season with the Crunch and acclimating to the professional life in the AHL. He’s had a decent start, putting up four points (two goals, two assists) so far this season. Three of those points came in a five-game stretch, and he’s currently on a three-game pointless streak. It will be interesting to see how the Lightning deploy him. It’s unlikely they called him up to ride the pine, so we expect him to play as long as he’s in a Lightning uniform. Even with Point injured, the Lightning have more than their fair share of centers. Anthony Cirelli, Yanni Gourde, Zemgus Girgensons, and Conor Geekie will more than likely stay as the primary pivotmen in Point’s absence. O’Reilly was on the ice and taking drills at practice on Tuesday, but there were enough absences that it is almost impossible to divine any type of line combinations. Cirelli and Brandon Hagel (along with Emil Lilleberg) were off of the ice due to maintenance days, so one should necessarily read too much into O’Reilly with Jake Guentzel and Yanni Gourde, but you never know. Coach Cooper might throw him in the deep end and see if he can swim. If we had to speculate the lines, we think they might look like this: Brandon Hagel – Anthony Cirelli – Nikita Kucherov Jake Guentzel – Yanni Gourde – Gage Goncalves Pontus Holmberg – Zemgus Girgensons – Ilya Mikheyev Jeff Viel – Conor Geekie – Sam O’Reilly The nice thing is that playing in the bottom-six as a rookie plays to O’Reilly’s skillset. His ability to defend all from one end of the ice to the other is his greatest asset, and he will be able to do it with Geekie and Viel. Could he see special teams time? Maybe. After all, the Bolts could use a little help on the penalty kill. which currently sits 24th in the league at 72.9%. Is there a chance that O’Reilly takes the opportunity and runs with it? Of course, there is a reason he earned the in the 2026 Top 20 Under 25. He plays a smart, relentless game that prioritizes defense, but has plenty of room for offense. If he plays well during his undetermined stretch of time he could give the Lightning second thoughts about sending him back to Syracuse. Dominic James and Charle-Edouard D’Astous did it last year, and the base of talent O’Reilly brings to the ice is a couple notches above those two players. Speaking to reporters about O’Reilly, assistant coach Dan Hinote had “He’s a very headsy player. You saw that in camp where he actually reminds me a lot of the other O’Reilly [Ryan O’Reilly] that I coached in Nashville. (He’s) Very smart, always in the right position. There’s going to be knocks on certain parts of his game that really aren’t a knock because he outthinks it.” Just the fact that he is going to take to the ice as a 20-year-old puts him in pretty rare company among Lightning players. Since 2007-08, only eleven players have played games for Tampa Bay in their age-20 season. The most recent was Geekie, who put up 14 points in 52 games during the 2024-25 season. The most productive 20-year-old in Lightning history was, you guessed it, Steven Stamkos, who put up 45 goals and 91 points back in 2010-11.* As for Point, there is no indication on how long he may be out. Since he was officially placed on injured reserve with an unspecified lower-body injury, he does have to miss seven days from his injury (which occurred on Sunday). He will not be eligible to play against Buffalo or Columbus, but c... Wed, 11 Nov 2026 00:06:07 GMT Justin G. https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58641167 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58641167 false false The Tampa Bay Lightning will miss star forward Brayden Point for an undetermined amount of time. Erik Erlendsson of LightningInsider.com […] Tue, 10 Nov 2026 23:27:47 GMT James Tomlin https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58640701 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58640701 false false Tampa Bay Lightning’s blue line erupts with unexpected firepower as Charle-Edouard D’Astous leads all Lightning defensemen in points, outpacing veterans like... Tue, 10 Nov 2026 23:10:09 GMT Locked On Lightning https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58640485 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58640485 false false With Brayden Point out with a lower-body injury, O’Reilly is slated to make his NHL debut Wednesday in Buffalo. Tue, 10 Nov 2026 20:34:22 GMT Eduardo A. Encina https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58638171 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58638171 true false Assistant Coach Dan Hinote and Forward Sam O'Reilly spoke to the media following Tuesday's practice at TGH Ice Plex in Brandon. Tue, 10 Nov 2026 19:53:34 GMT https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58637555 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58637555 false false The Lightning acquired O’Reilly from Edmonton in 2025 in a one-for-one trade for Isaac Howard. Tue, 10 Nov 2026 19:37:11 GMT Mike Gould https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58637314 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58637314 false false The Crunch are 5-5-2-0 this season and sit in sixth place in the North Division. Tue, 10 Nov 2026 19:15:19 GMT Syracuse Crunch https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58636996 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58636996 false false Is this Lightning defenseman set for a breakout year? Tue, 10 Nov 2026 18:22:39 GMT Michael DeRosa https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58636226 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58636226 false false The Tampa Bay Lightning have announced that they’re recalling prospect Sam O’Reilly from AHL Syracuse. Whenever Tampa places him into the forward lineup, it’ll be for the player’s NHL debut. O’Reilly has two goals for six points in 12 AHL games with the Crunch to start the AHL this season. The 20-year-old was the last […] Tue, 10 Nov 2026 16:55:30 GMT Marcus Antonelli https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58634976 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58634976 false false The Tampa Bay Lightning placed centre Brayden Point on injured reserve Tuesday with an undisclosed injury on Tuesday and recalled forward Sam O’Reilly to fill his place on the roster, per multiple reports. Tue, 10 Nov 2026 16:46:59 GMT TSN.ca Staff https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58634820 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58634820 false false The Lightning are giving this former Oilers first-round pick a chance on their NHL roster. Tue, 10 Nov 2026 16:41:16 GMT Michael DeRosa https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58634740 https://sportspyder.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/articles/58634740 false false