Penguins 2018-19 NHL Schedule starts vs Capitals

Summer is in full swing but we now have the 2018-19 NHL season schedule to deal with. The full schedule is out at 5:30 PM eastern tonight, and we’ll update at that point, but for now we know:

Opening night for the Penguins will be Thursday October 4th. They will be at home in Pittsburgh to meet the Washington Capitals. Many had speculated it would be the Penguins being in Washington for opening night for their banner raising ceremony (much the way the Caps were in Pittsburgh opening night 2016) but it doesn’t appear this will be the case.

Per a team release, the Penguins have gone 7-3-3 in 13 home openers since Sidney Crosby joined the team in 2005. Pittsburgh has an all-time record of 26-14-10 in home openers,

Being as the St. Louis Blues were the Pens home opener last year, it’s not every year that the Stanley Cup banner is raised in front of a rival. In fact, the Caps home opener is Wednesday October 3 (vs Boston) so the Pens will be on the happy-end of a tired opponent on a back-to-back situation to start the season.

Some key dates and notes:

• Last year a big deal was made of the Pens NHL high 19 games in back-to-back days. This year that number remains to be seen. (Check back at 5:30)
• The Pens will go the Philadelphia to play an outdoor game against the Flyers on February 23rd. This is more of less the makeup home-and-home game from 2017 when Pittsburgh defeated Philly 4-2 at Heinz Field.