Talk about starting things off with a bang.<\/p>\n
On the first Saturday of the 2025-26 regular season, all 32 NHL teams will be in action, a smorgasbord of 16 games that starts at 1:30 p.m. ET in Winnipeg and wraps up with three 10 p.m. ET games in Edmonton, San Jose and Seattle.<\/p>\n
So be sure to settle in, break out the snacks and drinks of choice and claim a spot on the couch. Chores and pumpkin picking can wait.<\/p>\n
How to Watch NHL Games<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s the first of two times this month, and this season, when every team will be in action on the same day. The other is Oct. 28, the annual Frozen Frenzy on ESPN when start times are staggered throughout a window that stretches from 6 p.m. ET to 11 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n There is plenty of compelling hockey Saturday, starting with the defending Presidents\u2019 Trophy holder, the Winnipeg Jets, hosting the Los Angeles Kings. There are eight games starting at 7 p.m. ET. Eleven of the games will feature division rivals going head-to-head.<\/p>\n It’s a lot to take in, so to help you plan your viewing experience across this buffet of puck action, we asked a panel of NHL.com staffers their most intriguing game on Saturday.<\/p>\n Here are their answers:<\/p>\n Los Angeles Kings at Winnipeg Jets (1:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, TSN3, FDSNW)<\/p>\n It\u2019s the final season of Anze Kopitar<\/a>\u2019s career, so I\u2019m watching every Kings game I can. And this should be a great matchup, with two of the top-six teams from last season diving into a year in which each has playoff and championship aspirations. The Jets are fresh off the signing<\/a> of forward Kyle Connor<\/a> to an eight-year, $96 million contract on Wednesday, as they continue building a Stanley Cup-worthy roster, and the Kings are coming off a 6-5 shootout win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday. I\u2019ll ease into a very full Saturday NHL schedule with a blockbuster matchup right off the bat. — Amalie Benjamin, senior writer<\/p>\n St. Louis Blues at Calgary Flames (4 p.m. ET, SN, FDSNMW)<\/p>\n If there are any teams in the NHL who intrinsically understand the value of wins — whether in the first week of the season or the last — it\u2019s the Blues and Flames. These two last season finished tied for the second wild card from the Western Conference with 96 points each. St. Louis advanced to the Stanley Cup Playoffs because they had one more regulation win than the Flames. So, there will be no early-season feeling-out process in this matinee. Expect these two teams to go right at each other in a game that could well be decided by goaltending. Dustin Wolf<\/a> of the Flames, the runner-up for the Calder Trophy last season as NHL rookie of the year, goes against Jordan Binnington<\/a>, who is trying to make a case to be Team Canada\u2019s No. 1 goalie for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. — Shawn P. Roarke, senior director of editorial<\/p>\n Toronto Maple Leafs at Detroit Red Wings (7 p.m. ET; FDSNDET, SNP, SNW, SNO, CBC)<\/p>\n Auston Matthews<\/a> scored 33 goals last season. For most players, that would be good. For the Maple Leafs captain, it was an NHL career low. But he had an undisclosed injury, and now he\u2019s healthy again. He has had a lot of success against the Red Wings, scoring 19 goals in 26 regular-season games, including 10 goals in 12 games in Detroit. The Red Wings are celebrating their centennial but have a new look with three rookies on the roster: defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka<\/a> and forwards Emmitt Finnie<\/a> and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard<\/a>. — Nicholas J. Cotsonika, columnist<\/p>\n New Jersey Devils at Tampa Bay Lightning (7 p.m. ET; The Spot, MSGSN2)<\/p>\n Good luck finding another game featuring two clubs with as much creativity and speed. New Jersey offers forwards Jack Hughes<\/a>, Nico Hischier<\/a> and Jesper Bratt<\/a>, and defenseman Luke Hughes<\/a>. Tampa Bay counters with forwards Nikita Kucherov<\/a>, Jake Guentzel<\/a> and Brandon Hagel<\/a>, and defenseman Victor Hedman<\/a>. Each club also has five players named to the preliminary rosters for the Olympics in February. For the Lightning, it\u2019s Point (Canada), Hedman (Sweden), forwards Oliver Bjorkstrand<\/a> (Denmark) and Zemgus Girgensons<\/a> (Latvia), and defenseman Erik Cernak<\/a> (Slovakia). New Jersey has Hischier, forward Timo Meier<\/a> and defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler<\/a> (Switzerland), forward Ondrej Palat<\/a> (Czechia) and defenseman Simon Nemec<\/a> (Slovakia). — Mike G. Morreale, senior draft writer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Talk about starting things off with a bang. 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