The NHL announced the first games for teams in the 2026-27 season, full schedule to follow tomorrow.
The Pittsburgh Penguins find themselves with a marquee opening matchup, they’ll start the year in Philadelphia on Wednesday September 30th for a rematch of last spring’s first round playoff series in a nationally televised game on TNT. The Pens will hold their home opener a few days later on Saturday October 3rd back in Pittsburgh against the Montreal Canadiens.
The above also announces that Pittsburgh will be on the road to be a part of Washington’s home opener on October 7th.
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This NHL season starts earlier than most in recent memory, the league has shortened the preseason and added two more regular season games to boost the schedule to 84 games for the first time since 1994. The additional games allows each team to play all members of their division four times – in past seasons under and 82 game schedule there was a rotation of playing two rivals only three times.
Key dates for signature events have also been announced. The Pens won’t be participating in any international or outdoor games this season, after going to Sweden last year.
October 25, 2026: 2026 Heritage Classic (Winnipeg Jets vs. Montreal Canadiens at Princess Auto Stadium, Winnipeg)
November 12 & 14, 2026: NHL Global Series Helsinki (Seattle Kraken vs. Carolina Hurricanes at Veikkaus Arena, Finland)
December 18 & 20, 2026: NHL Global Series Düsseldorf (Chicago Blackhawks vs. Ottawa Senators at PSD Bank Dome, Germany)
December 31, 2026: 2027 NHL Winter Classic (Utah Mammoth vs. Colorado Avalanche at Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City)
February 7, 2027: 2027 NHL All-Star Game (UBS Arena at Elmont, NY)
February 20, 2027: 2027 NHL Stadium Series (Dallas Stars vs. Vegas Golden Knights at AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX)
With the season starting earlier and no condensed scheduling needed to account for an Olympic stoppage, teams should be in-line for lengthy breaks during the year and avoid situations like last year when the Pens played 17 games in the month of March. We’ll see those splits and the full schedule upon tomorrow’s release.
