Here’s Penguins’ 2023-24 Schedule; Opener Might Be Epic

The Pittsburgh Penguins will open the 2023-24 season against the NHL’s Next Big Thing.

Superstar-in-waiting Connor Bedard, who Chicago will claim with the first pick in the NHL Draft Wednesday, will lead the Blackhawks into PPG Paints Arena Oct. 10 for the Penguins’ first game of the coming season.

That game will be televised nationally on ESPN.

The Penguins will play their first road game three nights later in Washington. They will not visit the Capitals again until April 4.

After playing just once in Philadelphia last season, the Penguins will face the Flyers there twice in little more than a month; they are scheduled to play at Wells Fargo Center on Dec. 4 and Jan. 8.

The Penguins will play five Metropolitan Division teams twice each home and away. They will face the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden only once and take on New Jersey at PPG Paints Arena only one time.

Vegas, the Stanley Cup champion, will play in Pittsburgh on Nov. 19 and the Penguins will visit the Golden Knights Jan. 20.

Some other highlights of the schedule:

*** The annual swing through California will come earlier than usual. The Penguins will play in San Jose Nov. 4, Anaheim Nov. 7 and Los Angeles Nov. 9.

*** Eastern Conference champion Florida will visit PPG Paints Arena Jan. 26 and Feb. 14. The Penguins’ only road game against the Panthers will be Dec. 8.

*** The Penguins will play a pair of games in Tampa Nov. 30 and Dec. 6, bookending a home-and-home series with the Flyers.

*** There will be a pair of four-game homestands, tying for the longest of the season. The first will cover Oct. 24-30 and feature games against Dallas, Colorado, Ottawa and Anaheim; the second will be Feb. 18-25, with visits from Los Angeles, the New York Islanders, Montreal and Philadelphia.

*** The Penguins will play in Ottawa Dec. 23, their final game before the league-wide three-day holiday break, and on Long Island Dec. 27, the first day after the break.

*** President of hockey operation Kyle Dubas’ old team, Toronto, will come to PPG Paints Arena for the only time in 2023-24 on Nov. 25.

*** The Western Canada road swing, which matches the longest of the season, will include a couple of border crossings. The Penguins will visit Vancouver Feb. 27, Seattle Feb. 29, Calgary March 2 and Edmonton March 3.

*** The other four-game road trip will be against Metropolitan Division opponents. The Pittsburgh Penguins will play at Columbus March 30, at the New York Rangers April 1, at New Jersey April 2 and at Washington April 4.

*** The regular season will end with a game on Long Island April 17.