{"id":416163,"date":"2026-10-01T23:00:47","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T23:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/416163\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T23:00:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T23:00:47","slug":"how-to-watch-home-opener-for-ny-rangers-vs-tampa-bay-lightning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/416163\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Watch Home Opener for NY Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"69\">The New York Rangers are getting set for their second game of the season and their home opener against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Following a loss in their season opener, the Rangers will be seeking their first win of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6e\">It was a tough opener for New York, who played the Bruins even on the scoreboard for 56 minutes, only to lose 3-0. While it wasn\u2019t the cleanest game for the Rangers and there is a good amount to still work on, the team will be hoping to do a bit better on Thursday night at home.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6j\">MSG was not kind to the Rangers last year, and getting off to a good start at home and establishing some home-ice dominance will be important. On Thursday, they will be tested against a very good <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nhl\/rangers\/onsi\/news\/ny-rangers-have-owned-recent-meetings-with-lightning\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tampa Bay Lightning team<\/a> with one of the best goalies in the league.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6o\">With the home opener always being a special night, here\u2019s how to watch on Thursday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Who: Tampa Bay Lightning vs. New York RangersWhen: Thursday, October 1st, 7:00 PM EST\u00a0Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York\u00a0Television: MSG NetworkRadio: ESPN 880 AM<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/01m3wk76jjxerps9tv3w.jpg\" alt=\" New York Rangers left wing Pavel Dorofeyev \" title=\" New York Rangers left wing Pavel Dorofeyev \" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"7p\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Sep 22, 2026; New York, New York, USA;  New York Rangers left wing Pavel Dorofeyev (16) is greeted by forward JT Miller (10) after scoring in the second period against the New York Islanders at Madison Square Garden.  Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7v\">Coming off a loss to the Bruins, Thursday night will be an early but important game on the schedule for New York. A slow start ruined their season last year, and showing the crowd at MSG that this year will be different is going to be important.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"80\">While Tampa Bay is a very good team, the Rangers are much-improved on paper. It is going to take time for this group to gel, but New York has the talent to be a playoff contender.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"85\">Even though there wasn\u2019t a lot that went right for the team in the first game outside a brilliant performance from Igor Shesterkin, the second line did show some promising things.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8a\">Newcomers Pavel Dorofeyev and Oliver Bjorkstrand both played very well, and they did everything but put the puck in the back of the net. For Dorofeyev especially, this was an encouraging start, and he showcased some of the things he can do on the ice.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8f\">Furthermore, after making his NHL Debut already, Alberts Smits will be playing his first regular-season game at MSG.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-15\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8k\">Overall, while it is just the second game of the season, getting a win on home ice would be meaningful for New York due to the struggles of the team last season.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" preventdefault:click=\"\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\" on:click=\"q-BKH5TN-7.js#s_lDqay9E5m5g[0]\" q:id=\"8q\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Rangers are getting set for their second game of the season and their home opener&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-416163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}