Hurricanes to raise championship banner against Panthers on opening night

The NHL has released the schedule for opening night. The defending Stanley Cup Champion, the Carolina Hurricanes, will be taking to the ice that night. It is one of five games on opening night, according to the release from the NHL.

As part of a triple header on ESPN on September 29, the Hurricanes will open against the Florida Panthers. It is a match-up of the last three Stanley Cup Champions and two of the favorites to win the Eastern Conference in 2026-27. Puck drop is set for 5 pm ET for the first game.

The second game of the triple header will feature two original six teams. The New York Rangers, with new addition Pavel Dorofeyev, will visit David Pastrnak and the Boston Bruins at 8 pm ET. The triple header ends with the defending Western Conference Champion at 10:30 pm ET. The Vegas Golden Knights will host the Chicago Blackhawks.

Opening night features more than just the triple header on ESPN, as Sportsnet will be featuring a doubleheader. The first game of the doubleheader will feature the Montreal Canadiens visiting the top pick from the NHL Draft, Gavin McKenna, and the Toronto Maple Leafs at 7 pm ET. The second game sees the Vancouver Canucks visit Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers at 10 pm ET.

The NHL also announced the continuation of opening night on September 30, with two games being featured on TNT. Both games feature rematches from the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The first game of the evening features an interstate rivalry as the Pittsburgh Penguins visit the Philadelphia Flyers at 7:30 pm ET. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Kings visit the Colorado Avalanche at 10 pm ET.

All home openers have been released by the league

The NHL has also released home opener dates for every team in the league.  The Chicago Blackhawks will open their season with a road trip and will help multiple teams open their home campaigns. They will visit the Golden Knights on opening night, before visiting the Utah Mammoth on October 1. They continue the road trip on October 3, this time visiting the Buffalo Sabres, who hope to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a second straight year. Connor Bedard will finally play on home ice for the first time on October 6, hosting the St. Luis Blues.

On October 3, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and the rest of the Penguins will have their first home game of the year. They will host the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs then get a rematch of the Eastern Conference final on October 6, when they have their home opener against the Hurricanes.

Alex Ovechkin has decided to play another year for the Washington Capitals. Still, Caps fans will have to wait until October 7 to catch him on home ice. It will be a treat. Last season, it was thought that Ovi had played his last home game in his NHL career when the Caps hosted the Penguins. Now, the next chapter of his Hall of Fame career will continue another chapter in the rivalry against the Penguins as the Capitals have their home opener scheduled against Pittsburgh.

The final team to open up home ice will be the Florida Panthers. After opening the season on the road on opening night against the Hurricanes, they will head west. The Panthers play in the San Jose Sharks’ home opener on October 1, before visiting the Kings for their home opener on October 6. The team will then play at home for the first time on October 10 against the Minnesota Wild.

Specialty games have been scheduled by the NHL

Beyond releasing the schedule for everyone’s home openers, the NHL has also announced the schedule for many of the major events on its calendar. That opens with the 2026 Time Hortons NHL Heritage Classic, this year in Winnipeg. The outdoor game will feature the Winnipeg Jets and the Canadiens on October 25.

The NHL will also continue its Global Series. This year, the defending Stanley Cup Champion Hurricanes will head to Helsinki, Finland, for two games on November 12 and November 14. They will face the Seattle Kraken for those two games. The Global Series does not end in Finland, though. Düsseldorf, Germany, will also host two games. The Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators will face off on December 18 and December 20 for those two events.

The 18th edition of the Winter Classic will be taking place at Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium on December 31, with the Utah Mammoth hosting the Colorado Rockies.

NHL All-Star weekend will be on February 5-6 in Long Island. The event will feature a skill competition, featuring players all aged 25 or younger. The All-Star Game will feature five teams of 11 players each, representing Canada, Finland, Sweden, the United States, and the rest of the world. The five teams will play in a three-on-three round-robin tournament.

The final major event on the Calendar will be the Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series, which will be on February 20. In that game, the Dallas Stars will host the Vegas Golden Knights at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The rest of the NHL schedule will be released at 1 pm ET on Thursday.

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