Thursday brings the first regular-season action for 10 NHL clubs, with eight games on the slate and heavy streaming coverage, according to ESPN. The slate features notable rookies, familiar faces in new places and other storylines that will be on display across the night.
Buffalo visits Columbus (7 p.m. ET), a matchup that pits the Sabres — who ended the NHL’s longest postseason drought and won a playoff round last season — against a Blue Jackets club still seeking a return to the postseason. The game will feature heavy minutes from elite blueliners Zach Werenski and Rasmus Dahlin, according to ESPN.
The Flyers travel to New Jersey (7 p.m. ET) after a 7-0 loss to Pittsburgh on Tuesday. The two clubs have met just twice in the postseason since 2005, with Philadelphia winning 4-1 in the 2010 conference quarterfinals and New Jersey winning 4-1 in the 2012 conference semifinals; in each of those years the series winner went on to lose in the Stanley Cup Final, according to ESPN.
New York Rangers host Tampa Bay (7 p.m. ET) after a 3-0 opening-night loss to Boston, while Minnesota visits Nashville (8 p.m. ET) in a game that recalls the 2026 Olympics matchup between Sweden and Finland. Juuse Saros backstopped Finland in that tournament and is the likely starter for Nashville; Minnesota’s Filip Gustavsson is unavailable due to injury and Jesper Wallstedt was also on Sweden’s Olympic roster, according to ESPN.
Seattle plays at Calgary (9 p.m. ET) in a Pacific Division game that spotlights Matvei Gridin and Simon Nemec for the Flames. Chicago goes to Utah (9:30 p.m. ET), a matchup that will feature Clayton Keller and Logan Cooley for the Mammoth and Patrick Kane for the Blackhawks; Kane scored in Chicago’s season opener and made his NHL debut on Oct. 4, 2007, while Keller was nine and Cooley three at that time, according to ESPN.
The Florida Panthers visit San Jose (10 p.m. ET). According to Elite Prospects, Florida has the second-oldest opening-night roster in the NHL (30.48 years), just behind the Los Angeles Kings (31.13), while San Jose has the fourth-youngest at 26.29. With multiple games available across platforms, ESPN notes viewers may want an ESPN+ subscription to follow the full slate.
