NHL releases schedule for 2022-23 regular season

The NHL released the schedule of all 32 teams for the 2022-23 regular season.

The season will begin in Europe on Oct. 7 and 8 with the return of the NHL Global Series, where the Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks will play in Prague, Czech Republic. The Colorado Avalanche and Columbus Blue Jackets will play in the other Global Series this season, facing off on Nov. 4 and 5 in Tampere, Finland.

The season begins in North America on Oct. 11, when the New York Rangers and the Tampa Bay Lightning play in New York and the Los Angeles Kings and Vegas Golden Knights play in Los Angeles.

Six teams will have to wait beyond the first week of the season to play their home home openers, the most notable being the Arizona Coyotes, which won’t play in their new arena at Arizona State until Oct. 28.

The schedule features two outdoor games this season, with the Boston Bruins hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins at Fenway Park on Jan. 2 and the Carolina Hurricanes hosting the Washington Capitals at NC State’s Carter-Finlay Stadium on Feb. 18.

The season will pause from Feb. 2 to 5 when South Florida hosts the NHL All-Star weekend.

Hockey fans will also have to wait until February until they see a Stanley Cup Final rematch, as the Lightning and the Colorado Avalanche will face off in Tampa Bay on Feb. 9. A few days later on the 14th, the Avalanche will then host the Lightning in Colorado.

The NHL will use the same schedule matrix as last season, which was adjusted from previous seasons due to the Seattle Kraken entering the league. Teams will play five of their seven divisional opponents four times, the remaining two teams three times, as well as non-divisional conference opponents three times, and opponents outside of their conference two times.