After hosting the Kings on opening night, San Jose will hit the road for five-straight, including a Stanley Cup rematch against Pittsburgh.
The San Jose Sharks now know their road back to the Stanley Cup playoffs next year as the NHL released the 2016-17 regular season schedule for all 30 teams.
Yesterday, the team announced they would open the 2016-17 season by hosting the Los Angeles Kings at the Shark Tank on Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 7:30 p.m. as part of opening night for the NHL. This will be the third-straight year in which the Sharks will open against the Kings with this being the first time the teams will meet in San Jose.
Following their opener against L.A., the Sharks will head out on the road for a five-game trip, highlighted by a Stanley Cup rematch against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Consol Energy Center on Thursday, Oct. 20th.
The two teams won’t have to wait long to face each other again as just seven games later the Penguins will return to the scene of their Stanley Cup clinching victory as they make their only appearance at the SAP Center on Saturday, Nov. 5th.
You’ll want to circle your calendars for both occasions.
Following that second matchup against the Penguins, team teal will head out on their longest road trip of the season which will begin against the best team in the regular season last year, the Washington Capitals, before concluding in the desert against the Arizona Coyotes 11 days later.
The Sharks longest homestand, six games, will once again come during the month of March and what a test it will be for San Jose. Five of the six contests will be against playoff teams from last season, including rematches against the Predators and Blues. This homestand will stretch from March 9 through March 18th.
San Jose does catch a bit of the break at the end of the year as their last six games will all come against teams that missed the playoffs, including three-straight at SAP Center to wrap up the year on Saturday, April 8th.
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Last week, team teal released their six-game preseason schedule which will see San Jose play home-and-away contests against Arizona, the Anaheim Ducks, and Vancouver Canucks, beginning on Sept. 27th when the Sharks host the Canucks.
As always, San Jose will play each team home-and-away, with additional focus on divisional foes. Of note for Sharks fans, team teal will play both the Ducks and Kings five times next season with San Jose hosting three of the five matchups at home against their Southern California rivals.