With all NHL news mired in the unofficial summer shutdown, why not look ahead to some of the top games that stand out on the 2025-26 calendar for the Penguins? We’ll go in order of the schedule.
Tuesday October 7: @ New York Rangers
The Pens will knock out one of their biggest games of the season right off the bat in the season opener. Mike Sullivan coached the Bruins from 2003-06, so it’s not the first time he will be on the opposing bench, but for all intents and purposes it might as well be considering
that Sullivan spent 753 games as Pittsburgh’s coach. Seeing him go against Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin for the first time will be strange and the opening night energy will make this a massive first look for both teams.
Saturday October 11: New York Rangers
The schedule allows Sullivan to come back to Pittsburgh in the first week of the season too. It’s the Pens’ second home game of the year (they get the Islanders two days before) but this will be the first really big game. Satruday night. Surely the ‘welcome back’ video for Sullivan with all the Stanley Cup memories definitely makes this one to circle on the calendar. Definitely one to look forward too.
November 14 + 16: Global Series in Stockholm against Nashville
The Penguins head back to Sweden for the first time since 2008. They split two games with Ottawa back then, and their only other non-North American regular season games were against the Predators in Japan back in 2000 (also a split). It’ll be interesting since it’s 2pm and 9am local start times in Pittsburgh, so if you’ve ever wanted some Sunday morning Pens hockey, here’s your chance!
Wednesday November 26: Buffalo Sabres
Pittsburgh boasts a 8-2-2 record in the Crosby era on their traditional Thanksgiving Eve home game, and this night is always a fun one. Lots of people are back in town for the holiday and kicking the festivities off with what is a very fun game is usually something you can count on. Given these two teams, this has a 5-4, 6-3 score all over it already.
Tuesday December 16: Edmonton Oilers
It’s always worth pointing out when Connor McDavid makes his yearly visit to Pittsburgh. Unfortunately for the Penguins, it’s been McDavid putting on the show lately. McDavid has a whopping 14 points (4G+10A) in just his last four games at PPG Paints Arena. One way or another there will be fireworks in this one.
Wednesday January 21: @Calgary Flames
This will be the Pens’ penultimate visit to the Saddledome, with the Flames’ new arena scheduled to open for the 2027-28 arena. There’s a lot of history in this barn and this will be one of the last chapters for the Pens to be in it. There’s nothing quite like the visuals, lighting and unique buzz of an old hockey barn and before the league is completely engulfed by the nice, sterile, cookie cutter type of arenas it’s always good to see a game in a place that has a lot of stories.
Thursday February 26th: New Jersey Devils
This is the first game after the Olympic break and will kick off the unofficial second half of the season. What the Pens look like by this point will be interesting. Will Sidney Crosby return as a 3x Olympic gold medalist and get a hero’s welcome? Or will it be visiting Jack Hughes from the US making a star run coming off the big event? Hockey should be big time in the public eye coming off the Olympics and this game will be anticipated if only for the wait in between NHL action.
Saturday April 11: Washington Capitals
No plans are known yet, but Alex Ovechkin turns 40 next month and is in the final year of his contract. This could very well be his last game in Pittsburgh. It’s also the final home game of the season and could be the last game Evgeni Malkin plays at home for the Pens if it goes that way too. Lots of finality is lingering in the air for one of the most storied individual and team rivalries of the last 20 years when you talk Pens/Caps but also Crosby/Ovechkin and Malkin/Ovechkin.
Sunday April 12: @Washington Capitals
Very similar to the above note, one day after locking up in Western PA, the Pens make their only visit to DC this season in Game No. 81 of the season. This is the Capitals’ regular season finale and very well could be Ovechkin’s final home game, at least in the regular season.
