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The schedule is here for the 2019-20 regular season! Some notes from the team:
Pittsburgh’s schedule features some noteworthy home games that fans will want to circle on their calendar:
October 29 vs. Philadelphia - Claude Giroux and the Flyers come to town as the Penguins take on their cross-state rivals for the first time this season.
November 2 vs. Edmonton - Hart Trophy finalist Connor McDavid and the Oilers make their only trip to Pittsburgh.
November 19 vs. New York Islanders - It’s a Round 1 playoff rematch as the New York Islanders make their first of two visits to the Steel City.
November 22 vs. New Jersey - The No. 1-overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, Jack Hughes, makes his first-ever visit to Pittsburgh.
December 4 vs. St. Louis - The Penguins host the defending Stanley Cup champion Blues in their only visit to PPG Paints Arena.
March 7 vs. Washington - Pittsburgh renews its rivalry against Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals as they make their first of two trips to Pittsburgh.
March 20 vs. New York Rangers - The No. 2-overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, Kaapo Kakko, makes his first-ever visit to Pittsburgh.
And it really stands out the Capitals’ first trip to Pittsburgh is March 7th. The Rangers’ first trip to Western Pennsylvania isn’t until March 20th. Get ready for lots of division games late. That’s certainly no coincidence as the league tries to load up the important games with potential playoff and playoff seeding implications towards the very end of the campaign.
boy am I glad we have 14 out of 16 of our last games of the season against Metro opponents, she screamed at god pic.twitter.com/4suHFBk2eo
— Katie (@dameofscones) June 25, 2019
In fact, the last time a Western Conference team visits Pittsburgh is Minnesota on January 14th. From there on, it’s all Eastern rivals at home. The Pens do have their California trip in late-February and visit Chicago in March so there are some games against the other conference later on, they’re just on the road.
Getting off to a fast season start — something usually foreign to this team — might just be critical for the Pens in 2019-20, and the schedule is setup for it.
Recipe for a fast start? Pens open season with 4-game homestand, play 7 of first 9 at home.
— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91) June 25, 2019
The longest road trip is only four games, which doesn’t seem too daunting and 15 of the home games are on Saturday’s or Sunday’s which seems nice and a welcome departure from trends of more week day home games.
What games or trips are standing out or are we really excited for?