The NHL has just released the slate of home openers for the 2026-27 NHL season, and the New York Rangers come away as one of the biggest, if not biggest, losers from a scheduling and logistics perspective. This year the NHL is returning to an 84-game per team schedule, and part of accommodating that extra two games per team involves the action kicking off at the end of September. Another element of that includes a slightly more truncated schedule. We will know the full specifics of that when the full schedule is released on Thursday, but here's what we know for now.
Busy week for #NYR to start the season pic.twitter.com/f8GysOWzXX
— WeBleedBlue (@WeBleedBlueNYC) July 15, 2026
Rangers' season opener is September 29th
Pavel Dorofeyev should make his official Rangers debut on Tuesday, September 29th, and the Rangers will head to Boston to take on the Bruins in a high-stakes Original Six matchup on the road. The Blueshirts had some interesting matchups with Boston last year, and it featured a lot of offense.
New York took the opener of the season series 6-2 on Black Friday in Boston, they were pummeled 10-2 weeks later once again at TD Garden, and they were victorious on January 26th with a 4-3 overtime winner at Madison Square Garden.
The Bruins have big playoff aspirations, and they hope the addition of forward JJ Peterka can add some much needed offensive support to a team that has been carried primarily by David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie.
Blueshirts open at home on October 1st
Things were pretty poorly for the Rangers at home last season, as they went 14-20-7 at Madison Square Garden, and that includes a start of 0-6-1 before defeating the Nashville Predators 6-3 on November 10th. The Rangers, and their fans, are very hopeful that they are able to turn the page on what was a very unfortunate stretch of play and get off on the right foot against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Lightning have been one of the league's elite teams in recent years, and one that has a significant history with the Rangers. Both teams have faced off in the playoffs, there have been key players who have suited up for both franchises, and the games played generally are high stakes.
New York bludgeoned Tampa 7-3 during the first meeting last year on November 12, Tampa struck back with a 4-1 victory at MSG on November 29th, and the Rangers won the final meetup of the season 4-2 on April 15th at The Garden.
Rangers take on Detroit in second half of back-to-back on October 2nd
The Rangers' third and final game in a four day stretch to open the season will be in Detroit following the team's home opener the night before. New York isn't the only team in this position, as the Chicago Blackhawks are in a similar spot with games on October 1st, October 3rd, and October 4th, and the St. Louis Blues will start on October 2nd, travel to Chicago and play on the 4th before returning home to take on San Jose on October 5th.
As for Detroit, the Red Wings are in an interesting spot as an organization. It was announced on Wedneday that Steve Yzerman was stepping down, and this comes at a time in which Dylan Larkin's future with the team remains in question. Detroit hasn't made the playoffs for the last 10 years, and they are a team that can't afford to keep wallowing in mediocrity.
The Rangers had a lot of success last season against the Red Wings, and that includes a 4-1 win in Detroit on November 7th, a 4-1 win at MSG on April 4th, but they also lost 2-1 at home on November 16th.
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