The Chicago Blackhawks will begin their quest for the franchise’s seventh Stanley Cup on Oct. 5 against the two-time reigning champion Pittsburgh Penguins to open their 2017-18 regular-season at the United Center.
Chicago went 2-0 against Pittsburgh last season with a 4-1 home win March 1 and a 5-1 victory March 31 in Pittsburgh.
The Hawks will also visit Montreal on Oct. 10 for the Canadiens’ home opener.
Chicago’s longest homestand of the season will be six games from Jan. 10-24 while its longest road trip will also be six games from Dec. 21 to Jan. 3, which includes the NHL’s Christmas break.
The schedule is different this season, with the addition of the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, giving the NHL 31 franchises including 15 in the Western Conference.
Chicago will visit the Golden Knights twice this season on Oct. 24 and Feb. 13 at T-Mobile Arena. The Hawks will host Vegas on Jan. 5.
The seven-team Central Division will play 26 divisional games. The Hawks will have two home and two road games against Colorado, Dallas, Nashville and St. Louis. Chicago will play three home and two away games against Minnesota and two home and three road games against Winnipeg.
Nashville swept the Hawks out of the playoffs in the first round last spring. The Hawks first game against Nashville next season will be Oct. 14 at the United Center.
Chicago will play three games each against all eight Pacific Division teams. This will include two home games and one road game against Anaheim, Edmonton, Los Angeles and San Jose, while they’ll host one game and play two road games against Arizona, Calgary, Vancouver and the aforementioned Vegas.
The remaining 32 games on the Hawks’ 82-game schedule will be made up of a home-and-home series against each of the 16 teams in the Eastern Conference.
Here’s the #Blackhawks 2017-18 regular-season schedule pic.twitter.com/gNpKcN1O57
— Second City Hockey🏒 (@2ndCityHockey) June 22, 2017