On Thursday, the NHL released the schedules for all 31 teams for the 2018-19 regular season.
As previously announced, the Capitals will play their first game of the season on October 3 at Capital One Arena against the Boston Bruins. The Stanley Cup championship banner will be raised before this fixture.
The following day the Caps will travel to PPG Paints arena to face off with the rival Pittsburgh Penguins. They will play the Penguins in DC on November 7 and December 19, with their final regular season head-to-head matchup occurring on March 12 back in Pittsburgh.
Other notable dates include a Stanley Cup rematch on October 10 against the Vegas Golden Knights at Capital One Arena. The Capitals will head back to T-Mobile Arena on December 4. Meanwhile, they won’t face their Eastern Conference Final opponents, the Tampa Bay Lightning, until March 16 in Florida. The Capitals will then face the Bolts at home on March 20 before seeing them on the road again 10 days later on March 30.
The Capitals will see former head coach Barry Trotz and the New York Islanders for the first time on November 26 in the Empire State. Trotz returns to Washington on January 18.
Advertisement
Between February 12 and March 19, the Capitals will play a brutal 13 of their 17 games on the road. The Capitals’ longest homestand of the season is a six-game stretch between February 1 and 11.
Washington’s bye-week appears to come at the end of January, running from the 24th to the beginning of February.
The 2018-19 regular season will mark the Capitals’ 44th in the NHL. You can sync the schedule to your devices using this link. Here it is in full:
From the Capitals:
The National Hockey League today announced the 2018-19 regular-season schedule for its 31 member clubs. The Washington Capitals will open the season at home against the Boston Bruins at Capital One Arena on Wednesday, Oct. 3, where the Capitals will also unveil their 2018 Stanley Cup Championship banner in a pregame ceremony.
Washington has five homestands of at least three games on the schedule, the longest being a six-game stretch at Capital One Arena from Feb. 1 to Feb. 11. The Capitals have eight stretches of at least three consecutive road games, including three four-game road trips and a six-game road trip. In addition, the Capitals will have 10 sets of back-to-back games.
Over half of the Capitals’ 41 home games at Capital One Arena fall on weekends, which includes nine games on Friday, six on Saturday and six on Sunday. The schedule features holiday home games on Veterans Day (Nov. 11 vs. Arizona), the day before Thanksgiving (Nov. 21 vs. Chicago) and Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 3 vs. Boston). This marks the 12th time in the last 13 seasons and the 11th consecutive season the Capitals will host a game on Super Bowl Sunday.
Television broadcast plans will be released at a later date. All Capitals games can be heard on the Caps Radio Network, Caps Radio 24/7, WashingtonCaps.com and on the Washington Caps mobile app.
Home dates to remember:
Oct. 3 – Season and home opener at Capital One Arena versus Boston Bruins
Oct. 10 – The Capitals host the Western Conference Champions Vegas Golden Knights
Oct. 17 – The New York Rangers make their first of two visits to Capital One Arena
Nov 5 – The Capitals host Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers
Nov. 7 – The Capitals play Pittsburgh for the first time since eliminating them from the 2018 Eastern Conference Semifinal
Nov. 11 – The Capitals host the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday night on Veterans Day
Nov. 21 – The Capitals and the Chicago Blackhawks face off the day before Thanksgiving
Dec. 31 – Washington hosts the Nashville Predators on New Year’s Eve
Feb. 3 – Washington hosts Boston on Super Bowl Sunday
April 7 – The Capitals conclude their 2018-19 regular-season schedule at home against the New York Islanders
More from the NHL:
The NHL’s 2018-19 regular season will commence Wednesday, Oct. 3, with a four-game slate, highlighted by the Washington Capitals raising their first Stanley Cup championship banner before facing the Boston Bruins at Capital One Arena. The 1,271-game regular-season schedule – 82 games per team – will conclude Saturday, April 6, 2019.
The other three games on the first night of the 2018-19 season include the Montreal Canadiens visiting the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena; the Vancouver Canucks hosting the Calgary Flames at Rogers Arena; and the San Jose Sharks playing host to the Anaheim Ducks at SAP Center.
The Anaheim Ducks and Florida Panthers are both celebrating their 25th anniversary in 2018-19.
The Panthers will open their season on the road against the Tampa Bay Lightning at AMALIE Arena on Saturday, Oct. 6, exactly 25 years after their first-ever NHL regular-season game in Chicago (FLA 4, CHI 4, Oct. 6, 1993).
The Ducks will play their home opener against the Detroit Red Wings at Honda Center on Monday, Oct. 8, exactly 25 years after the franchise’s first-ever NHL regular-season game, also played at home against Detroit (DET 7, ANA 2, Oct. 8, 1993).
Four teams will participate in the 2018 NHL Global Series and play regular-season games in Europe. The Edmonton Oilers and New Jersey Devils will play their 2018-19 season-opening game against each other in Gothenburg, Sweden on Saturday, Oct. 6 at Scandinavium. The Florida Panthers and Winnipeg Jets will face off in a pair of regular-season games at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland on Thursday, Nov. 1 and Friday, Nov. 2.
A rematch of the 2018 Stanley Cup Final will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 10 when the Washington Capitals play host to the Vegas Golden Knights at Capital One Arena.
The 2018 Discover NHL Thanksgiving Showdown will take place on Friday, Nov. 23, when the Philadelphia Flyers host the New York Rangers at Wells Fargo Center.
On New Year’s Day, the 2019 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® will feature the Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins outdoors at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind., home of the Fighting Irish. The game continues the tradition the League established in 2008 of hosting a regular-season outdoor game at the onset of the new year.
The League’s regular-season schedule will pause from Jan. 24-27 when the world’s top players gather in San Jose for the 2019 NHL All-Star weekend at SAP Center, which will include the NHL All-Star Skills Competition™ on Friday, Jan. 25 and the NHL All-Star Game on Saturday, Jan. 26. The 2018 NHL All-Star returns to a 3-on-3 tournament format after successful games in Nashville (2016), Los Angeles (2017) and Tampa (2018). Under the tournament rules, the NHL All-Star Game will be divided into three 20-minute games, with star players from each NHL division making up the four All-Star teams: Pacific, Central, Atlantic, and Metropolitan.
Saturday, Feb. 9 will mark Hockey Day in Canada, and will feature all seven Canadian teams in action. Hockey Day in America will be celebrated on Sunday, Feb. 17 and will feature six games, with the first starting at 12:30 p.m. ET and the sixth at 9 p.m. ET.
On Saturday, Feb. 23, the Philadelphia Flyers will play host to the Pittsburgh Penguins outdoors at the 2019 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series™ at Lincoln Financial Field in an intrastate rematch of the 2017 edition, won by Pittsburgh 4-2 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.
The 2018-19 regular season will conclude Saturday, April 6, when 30 of the League’s 31 teams take to the ice.
Chris Gordon contributed to this article.
Headline photo: Capitals
