Talk about starting things off with a bang.
On the first Saturday of the 2025-26 regular season, all 32 NHL teams will be in action, a smorgasbord of 16 games that starts at 1:30 p.m. ET in Winnipeg and wraps up with three 10 p.m. ET games in Edmonton, San Jose and Seattle.
So be sure to settle in, break out the snacks and drinks of choice and claim a spot on the couch. Chores and pumpkin picking can wait.
How to Watch NHL Games
It’s the first of two times this month, and this season, when every team will be in action on the same day. The other is Oct. 28, the annual Frozen Frenzy on ESPN when start times are staggered throughout a window that stretches from 6 p.m. ET to 11 p.m. ET.
There is plenty of compelling hockey Saturday, starting with the defending Presidents’ Trophy holder, the Winnipeg Jets, hosting the Los Angeles Kings. There are eight games starting at 7 p.m. ET. Ten of the games will feature division rivals going head-to-head.
It’s a lot to take in, so to help you plan your viewing experience across this buffet of puck action, we asked a panel of NHL.com staffers their most intriguing game on Saturday.
Here are their answers:
Los Angeles Kings at Winnipeg Jets (1:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, TSN3, FDSNW)
It’s the final season of Anze Kopitar’s career, so I’m watching every Kings game I can. And this should be a great matchup, with two of the top-six teams from last season diving into a year in which each has playoff and championship aspirations. The Jets are fresh off the signing of forward Kyle Connor to an eight-year, $96 million contract on Wednesday, as they continue building a Stanley Cup-worthy roster, and the Kings are coming off a 6-5 shootout win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday. I’ll ease into a very full Saturday NHL schedule with a blockbuster matchup right off the bat. — Amalie Benjamin, senior writer
St. Louis Blues at Calgary Flames (4 p.m. ET, SN, FDSNMW)
If there are any teams in the NHL who intrinsically understand the value of wins — whether in the first week of the season or the last — it’s the Blues and Flames. These two last season finished tied for the second wild card from the Western Conference with 96 points each. St. Louis advanced to the Stanley Cup Playoffs because they had one more regulation win than the Flames. So, there will be no early-season feeling-out process in this matinee. Expect these two teams to go right at each other in a game that could well be decided by goaltending. Dustin Wolf of the Flames, the runner-up for the Calder Trophy last season as NHL rookie of the year, goes against Jordan Binnington, who is trying to make a case to be Team Canada’s No. 1 goalie for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. — Shawn P. Roarke, senior director of editorial
Toronto Maple Leafs at Detroit Red Wings (7 p.m. ET; FDSNDET, SNP, SNW, SNO, CBC)
Auston Matthews scored 33 goals last season. For most players, that would be good. For the Maple Leafs captain, it was an NHL career low. But he had an undisclosed injury, and now he’s healthy again. He has had a lot of success against the Red Wings, scoring 19 goals in 26 regular-season games, including 10 goals in 12 games in Detroit. The Red Wings are celebrating their centennial but have a new look with three rookies on the roster: defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka and forwards Emmitt Finnie and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard. — Nicholas J. Cotsonika, columnist
New Jersey Devils at Tampa Bay Lightning (7 p.m. ET; The Spot, MSGSN2)
Good luck finding another game featuring two clubs with as much creativity and speed. New Jersey offers forwards Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt, and defenseman Luke Hughes. Tampa Bay counters with forwards Nikita Kucherov, Jake Guentzel and Brandon Hagel, and defenseman Victor Hedman. Each club also has five players named to the preliminary rosters for the Olympics in February. For the Lightning, it’s Point (Canada), Hedman (Sweden), forwards Oliver Bjorkstrand (Denmark) and Zemgus Girgensons (Latvia), and defenseman Erik Cernak (Slovakia). New Jersey has Hischier, forward Timo Meier and defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler (Switzerland), forward Ondrej Palat (Czechia) and defenseman Simon Nemec (Slovakia). — Mike G. Morreale, senior draft writer
Ottawa Senators at Florida Panthers (7 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, SN1)
Though this won’t be a battle of the Tkachuk brothers, because Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk is injured, this will be a great measuring-stick game for Brady Tkachuk and the Senators. Ottawa made the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season and look primed to get back again this season. But just getting to the playoffs certainly isn’t enough, and for any team in the NHL with designs on winning the Cup, getting through the Panthers is tantamount. Yes, it’s only the first week of the season, and yes, the Panthers are banged up with Tkacuk and Aleksander Barkov out, but a strong performance from Ottawa here could go a long way to giving them confidence and fire for the rest of the season. — Bill Price, Editor-in-Chief
Washington Capitals at New York Islanders (7 p.m. ET MNMT, MSGSN)
After scoring his 895th goal on April 6 at UBS Arena to break Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record, Alex Ovechkin returns seeking another milestone goal against the Islanders in their home opener. The Capitals left wing needs three goals to become the first player in League history to reach 900. It will also be the first meeting between 40-year-old Ovechkin, the No. 1 pick in the 2004 NHL Draft, and 18-year-old Islanders rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. Schaefer made his NHL debut against Sidney Crosby, the No. 1 pick in the 2005 NHL Draft, and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. — Tom Gulitti, senior writer
New York Rangers at Pittsburgh Penguins (7 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, MSG)
Mike Sullivan’s typical stoicism will be tested when he returns to Pittsburgh to coach against his former team for the first time. He coached against the Penguins at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, a forgettable 3-0 loss in his debut behind the Rangers bench. This will be different. This will be the opportunity for Pittsburgh fans to say thank you to the coach who guided their team for 10 years, to seven consecutive playoff appearances from 2015-22, to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and 2017, to 409 regular-season wins, the most by a coach in Penguins history. This might be one of the most personally emotional games Sullivan will ever coach. — Dan Rosen, senior writer
Montreal Canadiens at Chicago Blackhawks (7 p.m. ET; CHSN, NHLN, SNE, CITY, TVAS)
Is this a preview of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final? Most likely not. Five years down the road? Now that’s not a far-fetched idea. You want to see the future of the NHL? Tune into this game. You’d be hard-pressed to find more up-and-coming talent than in this matchup, which features the past two Calder Trophy winners as NHL rookie of the year — 20-year-old Chicago forward Connor Bedard (2024) and 21-year-old Montreal defenseman Lane Hutson (2025). Now here comes Canadiens 19-year-old forward Ivan Demidov, who this week was named the early season favorite to win the award in 2025-26 by NHL.com. And don’t forget 21-year-old Blackhawks forward Frank Nazar, who led the U.S. in scoring (six goals, six assists) in its gold medal run at the IIHF World Championships in May. These truly are four of the sport’s top young guns … and each will be on display at the United Center. Should be fun to watch. — Mike Zeisberger, staff writer
Dallas Stars at Colorado Avalanche (9 p.m. ET; Victory+, KTVD, ALT)
This isn’t the first time Dallas Stars forward Mikko Rantanen is going against his former team. His hat trick in Game 7 of the Western Conference First Round helped the Stars eliminate the Avalanche. But it’s always worth watching the Stars and Avalanche. These two are once again expected to be two of the Central Division’s best teams. Dallas was second and Colorado third in the division last season. Each team has great superstars, from Rantanen and Matt Duchene for the Stars to Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog for the Avalanche. These teams will be battling throughout the season. Their first meeting is just the start of the fun. — Tracey Myers, staff writer
Vancouver Canucks at Edmonton Oilers (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, CITY)
Forward Evander Kane returns to Edmonton to face his former team for the first time since being traded to Vancouver on June 25. The 34-year-old forward is healthy after missing the entire regular season with the Oilers last season because of surgery to repair a sports hernia injury. Kane returned for the Stanley Cup Playoffs and helped Edmonton get to a second consecutive Stanley Cup Final, again losing to Florida. It will be interesting to see the reception Kane gets in Edmonton on his return and how physically he plays against his former teammates. — Derek Van Diest, staff writer
Vegas Golden Knights at Seattle Kraken (10 p.m. ET; KHN, SCRIPPS, KONG)
Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner on a line together feels like something that only could happen in a video game. But now that they’re together, they could put up video game-style numbers. Marner and Eichel could be the first Vegas Golden Knights players to each reach 100 points; Marner hit that plateau for the first time in the NHL last season (102 points) with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Eichel is capable of joining him after he had a career-high 94 points in 2024-25. Playing their third game in four nights could be a challenge, but the offensive fireworks that Eichel and Marner are capable of together make Vegas can’t-miss viewing this season. — Adam Kimelman, deputy managing editor