Anaheim Ducks open 84-game 2026-27 season in Vegas on Oct. 2

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The newly expanded 84-game season will pick up right where last season left off for the Anaheim Ducks with the season-opener against their playoff ousters, as the NHL announced its 2026-27 schedule on Thursday.

Anaheim will begin its campaign on the road for a fourth consecutive season with a trip to Vegas against the Golden Knights on Friday, Oct. 2. Vegas eliminated the Ducks in the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs–Anaheim’s first postseason appearance since 2018.

The Ducks will open their home slate two days against recently departed captain Radko Gudas and the Florida Panthers on Sunday, Oct. 4. Anaheim has won 10 consecutive home openers.

Anaheim will revisit its other 2026 playoff opponent to close the opening homestand against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday, Oct. 7. The Ducks beat Edmonton in six games in the first round to win their first playoff series in nine seasons.

Ducks fans won’t wait long for the first game in their new blood-feud with the Philadelphia Flyers, as Anaheim takes off for a four-game tri-state area road trip in October. The Ducks will play the New York Rangers and Islanders on back-to-back games, then head across the river to play the New Jersey Devils before wrapping up the trip in Philadelphia on a Saturday afternoon, Oct. 24.

Flyers fans began this budding rivalry following Cutter Gauthier’s request to be traded in 2024. Since Gauthier’s trade to Anaheim, this match-up has seen the added spice of the Trevor Zegras trade to Philadelphia last summer, and this month, the Flyers kicked it up another notch with their NHL-record offer sheet to Leo Carlsson.

Carlsson, who the Ducks matched the five-year, $18 million-per-season deal for, will welcome the Flyers to Anaheim for the return leg on Jan. 3, which is part of a franchise record-tying 10-game homestand. The 10 games are a true “Home for the Holidays” stretch, spanning from Dec. 22 and the Christmas break to a Jan. 14 reunion with Mason McTavish, Ross Johnston and the St. Louis Blues.

The Ducks will also see a reunion with Olen Zellweger and the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 29 in Anaheim.

The Freeway Faceoff opens in a big way with a back-to-back, home-and-home pairing. The Ducks will host the Kings in their annual Black Friday matinee on Nov. 27 and head up the 5 to Los Angeles on Nov. 28.

Anaheim won’t head back to LA until March 1, and the Ducks will host the Kings once more on April 6.

All 32 teams in the league will take to the ice on the same day twice–Oct. 13 when the Ducks host Calgary, and April 10, when Anaheim closes its regular season in San Jose.

The NHL is also moving up select Monday games throughout the season into matinee windows to help engage with its fans in Europe. The Ducks’ game in Boston on Feb. 15 is one such game with a 9:30 a.m. Pacific and 12:30 p.m. local start time, which puts it into primetime TV slots for the European markets.

This season will also see the return of the NHL All-Star Weekend on Feb. 5-6 on Long Island, New York. The Ducks will be off from Jan. 30-Feb. 9, as the league hosts a young star-focused Skills Competition and adds an international flair for its 3-on-3 All-Star exhibition tournament.

With the addition of two regular-season games for an 84-game schedule, there will be two fewer preseason games. Anaheim will run through its full four-game preseason slate in just one with with two games, home-and-away, with the Sharks and two games, home-and-away, with the Kings.

Here is the Anaheim Ducks' full 2025-26 regular season schedule (all times Pacific):