- ESPN and TNT combine for 172 national games in 2026-27
- The Utah Mammoth host Colorado in the Winter Classic on New Year’s Eve
- Read below for every marquee date on the national TV calendar
The last piece of the 2026-27 season just fell into place.
Both networks dropped their slates Wednesday, and together they add up to 172 games. ESPN carries 100 exclusive matchups, 53 of them on ESPN and ABC with the other 47 streaming on ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu. TNT takes 72 regular-season games and closes the year with the 2027 Stanley Cup Final.
ESPN gets the jump. The season opens Tuesday, Sept. 29 with a tripleheader that starts in Raleigh, where the Hurricanes raise their championship banner before facing the Panthers at 5 p.m. ET. The Rangers visit the Bruins at 8, and the Blackhawks finish the night in Vegas at 10:30.
TNT waits a day and opens with a grudge. Sidney Crosby and the Penguins visit the Flyers on Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m. ET in a rematch of their first-round series last spring, followed by the Kings in Colorado at 10.
Take a look at how TNT laid the whole thing out, month by month:
October alone gives you Rangers at Red Wings on the 2nd, Crosby against Alex Ovechkin in Washington on the 7th, and the Heritage Classic on the 25th, where the Jets host Montreal outdoors at Princess Auto Stadium.
Outdoor hockey belongs to TNT this season. The Thanksgiving Showdown on Nov. 27 is a doubleheader, Rangers at Blackhawks followed by Penguins at Sabres. Five weeks later the Mammoth host the Avalanche at Rice-Eccles Stadium for the Winter Classic on New Year’s Eve.
Saturdays come back in January. ABC Hockey Saturday returns Jan. 16 with Bruins and Rangers at noon, the first of 16 Saturday games down the stretch.
- Sept. 29: ESPN opening tripleheader, Hurricanes raise the banner against Florida
- Oct. 13: NHL Frozen Frenzy, all 32 teams in action
- Oct. 25: Heritage Classic, Canadiens at Jets in Winnipeg
- Nov. 27: Thanksgiving Showdown doubleheader on TNT
- Dec. 31: Winter Classic, Avalanche at Mammoth in Salt Lake City
- Jan. 18: MLK Day doubleheader, capped by Ovechkin at Crosby
- Feb. 5-6: All-Star Weekend at UBS Arena
- Feb. 20: Stadium Series, Golden Knights at Stars in AT&T Stadium
- April 8: TNT regular-season finale, Flyers at Blue Jackets
All-Star Weekend returns after two years away, and it looks nothing like the old version. Canada, Finland, Sweden, the United States and a World Team will play a 3-on-3 round robin, with the Skills on Feb. 5 and the game itself Feb. 6 on ABC.
Teams started counting up their own appearances within minutes. Carolina landed 12 national broadcasts:
Nobody shows up more often than Pittsburgh, which drew a league-high 10 TNT dates:
Round 1 through the conference finals lands on ESPN in 2027, with TNT closing the year on the Final. It all starts in Raleigh on Sept. 29.
