The Pens will try to win the Stanley Cup for the third time in four years next season. Last season, the Pittsburgh Penguins were unable to become the first 35 years to win the Stanley Cup for a third consecutive year. The Penguins saw their 2017-18 season end in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs to the eventual champions, the Washington Capitals. But the Pens can still became the first team since the late '80s, early '90s Edmonton Oilers to win the Stanley Cup three times in a four-year span. Below is the team's newly released schedule for the upcoming season: Home Games 10-4 Capitals (7 PM) 10-6 Canadiens (7PM) 10-11 Golden Knights (7PM) 10-16 Canucks (7PM) 10-30 Islanders (7PM) 11-3 Maple Leafs (7PM) 11-5 Devils (7PM) 11-10 Coyotes (7PM) 11-15 Lightning (7PM) 11-19 Sabres (7PM) 11-21 Stars (7PM) 11-24 Blue Jackets (7PM) 12-1 Flyers (7PM) 12-4 Avalanche (7PM) 12-6 Islanders (7PM) 12-14 Bruins (7PM) 12-15 Kings (7PM) 12-17 Ducks (7PM) 12-20 Wild (7PM) 12-27 Red Wings (7PM) 1-4 Jets (7PM) 1-6 Blackhawks (7PM) 1-8 Panthers (7PM) 1-28 Devils (7PM) 1-30 Lighting (8PM) 2-1 Senators (7PM) 2-5 Hurricanes (7PM) 2-13 Oilers (8PM) 2-16 Flames (1PM) 2-17 Rangers (12:30) 2-21 Sharks (7PM) 3-5 Panthers (7PM) 3-7 Blue Jackets (7PM) 3-10 Bruins (7:30PM) 3-12 Capitals (7PM) 3-16 Blues (1PM) 3-17 Flyers (7:30 PM) 3-29 Predators (7PM) 3-31 Hurricanes (5PM) 4-4 Red Wings (7PM) 4-6 Rangers (7PM) Away Games 10-13 Canadiens (7PM) 10-18 Maple Leafs (7PM) 10-23 Oilers (9PM) 10-25 Flames (9PM) 10-27 Canucks (10PM) 11-1 Islanders (7PM) 11-7 Capitals (7:30PM) 11-13 Devils (7PM) 11-17 Senators (7PM) 11-23 Bruins (7:30PM) 11-27 Jets (8PM) 11-28 Avalanche (9:30) 12-8 Senators (7PM) 12-10 Islanders (7PM) 12-12 Blackhawks (8PM) 12-19 Capitals (8PM) 12-22 Hurricanes (7PM) 12-29 Blues (8PM) 12-31 Wild (6PM) 1-2 Rangers (7PM) 1-11 Ducks (10PM) 1-12 Kings (10:30 PM) 1-15 Sharks (10PM) 1-18 Coyotes (9PM) 1-19 Golden Knights (10PM) 2-2 Maple Leafs (7PM) 2-7 Panthers (7PM) 2-9 Lightning (7PM) 2-11 Flyers (7PM) 2-19 Devils (7PM) 2-23 Flyers (8PM) 2-26 Blue Jackets (7PM) 3-1 Sabers (7PM) 3-2 Canadiens (7PM) 3-9 Blue Jackets 7PM) 3-14 Sabres (7PM) 3-19 Hurricanes (7PM) 3-21 Predators (8PM) 3-23 Stars (8PM) 3-25 Rangers (7PM) 4-2 Red Wings (7:30PM) The Penguins will start the season against the rival Capitals at home on Thursday, October 4. A week later, Pittsburgh will host the defending Western Conference champions Golden Knights and former Penguins' goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury. Pittsburgh will cap of the home portion of their regular season schedule Saturday, April 6 against the Rangers. While the Penguins were unable to get back to the Stanley Cup Final in '18, the team's championship window with future Hall of Famers Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby is far but closed. Both players are in their early 30s and are armed with a strong supporting cast that includes 23-year-old goaltender Matt Murray, 30-year-old winger Phil Kessel and 23-year-old forward Jake Guentzel. While they have some holes to address (primarily on the defensive end), the Penguins should once again be in the Stanley Cup mix when the 2019 playoffs begin. "Sometimes we learn more from failures than successes," Pens' coach Mike Sullivan said after Pittsburgh's season-ending loss to the Capitals. "We haven't tasted this in a long time. That's a credit to our players. I couldn't be more proud of them as their coach. Obviously, we're disappointed. We have to digest it so we can be ready for next season."<doc-sep>Summer is in full swing but we now have the 2018-19 NHL season schedule to deal with. The full schedule is out at 5:30 PM eastern tonight, and we’ll update at that point, but for now we know: Opening night for the Penguins will be Thursday October 4th. They will be at home in Pittsburgh to meet the Washington Capitals. Many had speculated it would be the Penguins being in Washington for opening night for their banner raising ceremony (much the way the Caps were in Pittsburgh opening night 2016) but it doesn’t appear this will be the case. Per a team release, the Penguins have gone 7-3-3 in 13 home openers since Sidney Crosby joined the team in 2005. Pittsburgh has an all-time record of 26-14-10 in home openers, Being as the St. Louis Blues were the Pens home opener last year, it’s not every year that the Stanley Cup banner is raised in front of a rival. In fact, the Caps home opener is Wednesday October 3 (vs Boston) so the Pens will be on the happy-end of a tired opponent on a back-to-back situation to start the season. Some key dates and notes:<doc-sep>PITTSBURGH — Whether anyone thought it was a penance for winning back-to-back Stanley Cups or just the way things fell, the Pittsburgh Penguins had a rugged 19 sets of back-to-back games last season. For 2018-19, there will only be 11 sets, none until Nov. 23-24 at Boston and at home against Columbus, and three of the sets will have two home games. The full schedules for all NHL clubs were announced today. The home openers were announced Wednesday. The Penguins host the Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals and Alex Ovechkin Thursday Oct. 4 at PPG Paints Arena, and that not only is their home opener but their season opener. The team opens with a three-game homestand — Washington Oct. 4, Montreal Oct. 6 in the first Saturday home game, and Marc-Andre Fleury and Cup runner-up Vegas Oct. 11. The three games matches the franchise’s longest season-opening homestand. As usual, there is a Thanksgiving Eve game, Nov. 21 against Dallas. Their Western Canadian swing comes early and, unlike a lot of seasons, has no back-to-backs — Oct. 23 at Edmonton, Oct. 25 at Calgary and Oct. 27 at Vancouver. Their warm-weather West Coast swing, and longest road trip, starts Jan. 11 at Anaheim and continues Jan. 12 at Los Angeles, Jan. 15 at San Jose, Jan. 18 at Arizona and Jan. 19 at Vegas. Perhaps the players will be too road-weary by then to enjoy a lot of Sin City distractions. Also previously announced, the Penguins have an outdoor game, their fifth all-time, Feb. 23 against Philadelphia at that city’s NFL stadium, Lincoln Financial Field. The team broke down its Metropolitan division home games: Carolina Hurricanes Tuesday, February 5 7:00 PM Sunday, March 31 5:00 PM Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday, November 24 7:00 PM Thursday, March 7 7:00 PM New Jersey Devils Monday, November 5 7:00 PM Monday, January 28 7:00 PM New York Islanders Tuesday, October 30 7:00 PM Thursday, December 6 7:00 PM New York Rangers Sunday, February 17 12:30 PM Saturday, April 6 7:00 PM Philadelphia Flyers Saturday, December 1 7:00 PM Sunday, March 17 7:30 PM Washington Capitals Thursday, October 4 7:00 PM Tuesday, March 12 7:00 PM The full schedule<doc-sep>
The Washington Capitals and Vegas Golden Knights are two of the three teams the Penguins will host during their season-opening three-game homestand.Click here to view the full regular-season schedule. The Pens will face the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals at home in their 2018-19 regular-season opener.The game is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena.The Pens will then host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, Oct. 6 and the Golden Knights on Thursday, Oct. 11.Washington eliminated Pittsburgh 4-2 in a second-round playoff series in May, and went on to win the franchise's first Stanley Cup.The Pens will play seven Saturday night home games. That list includes the Pens' first meeting of the season against the rival Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 1 at PPG Paints Arena. The Washington Capitals and Vegas Golden Knights are two of the three teams the Penguins will host during their season-opening three-game homestand. Click here to view the full regular-season schedule. The Pens will face the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals at home in their 2018-19 regular-season opener. The game is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena. The Pens will then host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, Oct. 6 and the Golden Knights on Thursday, Oct. 11. Washington eliminated Pittsburgh 4-2 in a second-round playoff series in May, and went on to win the franchise's first Stanley Cup. The Pens will play seven Saturday night home games. That list includes the Pens' first meeting of the season against the rival Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 1 at PPG Paints Arena.