Hurricane Matthew cancels preseason games

After consulting with and various governmental officials and agencies, the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning announced Thursday that their preseason game on Thursday, October 6 at Amalie Arena has been canceled due to the expected landfall of Hurricane Matthew. Additionally, the Nashville Predators' preseason game against the Panthers at BB&T Center and the Carolina Hurricanes' (ironic) preseason game against the Lightning at Amalie Arena, both scheduled for Friday, October 7, have also been canceled.

The exhibitions for the Lightning and Panthers will not be rescheduled.

"While we are disappointed to announce the postponement of any event at the BB&T Center, the safety of our fans, staff and the people of South Florida is always our top priority," said Panthers Executive Chairman Peter Luukko.

In lieu of their canceled games, the Hurricanes will now host the Predators at the RBC Center on Friday in a 2pm matinee.

"We could have probably made our game in Tampa work, as they aren't expected to be hit as bad as Eastern Florida, but travel would have been too chaotic for both our team and the citizens of Florida who had to evacuate," said Hurricanes' general manager Kevin Lacy. "This actually works out better for us logistically anyway."

The Hurricanes will now take a quick trip home from Washington D.C., where they open their preseason schedule Thursday evening, while the Nashville Predators will also have a shorter travel itinerary after Friday's game before flying overnight to Columbus for their game Saturday. Hurricane team officials have also said that ticket proceeds from the new home game will benefit the expected relief program that will come from the devastating storm.