The 2026-27 NHL regular season begins on September 29, 2026. Opening night features five games, starting with the Florida Panthers at the Carolina Hurricanes and ending with the Chicago Blackhawks at the Vegas Golden Knights. For readers in Brazil, the key is to separate the sports calendar — already confirmed by the league — from local broadcast availability, which should not be inferred from partners announced for the United States and Canada.
When the 2026-27 NHL season starts
The NHL set Tuesday, September 29, as opening night. The 2026-27 schedule expands to 84 games per team, with 42 at home and 42 on the road, and the regular season ends on April 10, 2027. The official announcement and scheduling matrix are available on the NHL's 2026-27 schedule page.
Opening-night games on September 29
The table below follows the official visitor-home order. The Brasília column converts the ET times announced by the NHL to Brasília time on September 29, 2026.
| Game | Official time (ET) | Brasília time |
|---|---|---|
| Florida Panthers at Carolina Hurricanes | 5:00 p.m. | 6:00 p.m. |
| Montreal Canadiens at Toronto Maple Leafs | 7:00 p.m. | 8:00 p.m. |
| New York Rangers at Boston Bruins | 8:00 p.m. | 9:00 p.m. |
| Vancouver Canucks at Edmonton Oilers | 10:00 p.m. | 11:00 p.m. |
| Chicago Blackhawks at Vegas Golden Knights | 10:30 p.m. | 11:30 p.m. |
The first game also includes Carolina's ceremony to raise the banner for its second Stanley Cup championship before facing Florida. Canadiens-Maple Leafs and Rangers-Bruins put two traditional rivalries on the opening-night slate.
What to watch right after opening night
The schedule already offers several useful checkpoints for fans who want to follow the start of the season without trying to track all 1,344 regular-season games:
- September 30: the Pittsburgh Penguins visit the Philadelphia Flyers at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by the Los Angeles Kings at the Colorado Avalanche at 10:00 p.m. ET.
- October 13: all 32 teams are in action on the same day.
- October 25: the Montreal Canadiens visit the Winnipeg Jets in the NHL Heritage Classic, the first outdoor game of the season.
- November 12 and 14: the Carolina Hurricanes and Seattle Kraken play in Helsinki in the Global Series Finland.
These dates work as early-season reference points. The NHL has also added a steady stream of Monday afternoon games in North America designed to land in European prime time during the week.
What changes with an 84-game season
Each team will play two more games than under the 82-game format. The official distribution is 28 games within the division, 24 against same-conference teams outside the division and 32 against the other conference. That totals 42 home games and 42 road games.
For fans, that means additional divisional meetings and a regular season running from September 29 through April 10. The NHL says the regular season will contain 1,344 games.
How to read the official schedule without getting lost
The safest starting point is the official NHL schedule. Before a game, check three things: the date, the listed start time and whether a later update has been posted. The league has already published start-time changes for 2026-27 games, so it is worth revisiting the schedule close to game day.
If you are in Brazil, check the time zone as well. On September 29, Brasília is one hour ahead of the Eastern Time used in the NHL announcement. The difference can change at other points in the year because of daylight saving time in North America.
What about broadcasts in Brazil?
The NHL announcement identifies ESPN/ABC and TNT Sports as national partners in the United States and Sportsnet in Canada. That does not, by itself, confirm where every game will be available in Brazil. It would therefore be unsafe to turn the North American TV schedule into a promise about a Brazilian channel or streaming service.
Use the official schedule as the source for games and start times, then confirm the viewing option available in Brazil closer to each date. This avoids two common mistakes: confusing another country's rights with Brazilian rights and treating times published weeks in advance as permanent.
Key dates to save
- 9/29: season opens with five games.
- 9/30: next-night slate includes Penguins-Flyers and Kings-Avalanche.
- 10/13: all 32 teams play on the same day.
- 10/25: Heritage Classic in Winnipeg.
- 11/12 and 11/14: Global Series Finland.
- 4/10/2027: regular season ends with all 32 teams in action again.
For anyone following the NHL from the start of 2026-27, the simplest approach is to use these milestones as anchors and return to the official schedule for time changes and team-by-team details.
