October 10, 2022
NHL Returns October 11 with Opening Night Doubleheader Face-Off on ESPN and ESPN+
- Tampa Bay Lightning open season at New York Rangers in Eastern Conference Final rematch at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+
- Vegas Golden Knights visit Los Angeles Kings at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+
- The Point debuts ahead of opening night doubleheader at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and ESPN+
- Opening week exclusive game action continues October 13 as Coach John Tortorella makes his Philadelphia Flyers coaching debut in home opener against Jack Hughes and the New Jersey Devils at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+/Hulu
- 28 NHL Power Play games streaming exclusively on ESPN+ this week
The season begins in North America on Tuesday, October 11, with an opening night doubleheader Face-Off on ESPN and ESPN+ in a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Final with the Tampa Bay Lightning visiting the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden and the Los Angeles Kings hosting the Vegas Golden Knights at Crypto.com Arena.
The top Eastern Conference teams from last season meet again when newly-minted Rangers captain Jacob Trouba and Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin host the Lightning and fellow elite goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy for the season’s opening puckdrop at 7:30 p.m. ET. Following at 10 p.m. ET, the Golden Knights’ Jack Eichel – in his first season-opening game for the club – and new coach Bruce Cassidy take aim at the Kings and newly-acquired forward Kevin Fiala in a Pacific Division matchup.
Exclusive NHL games on ESPN and ESPN+ this week:
| Date | Time (ET) | Network | Game/Studio Show | ESPN Commentators |
| Tuesday, October 11 |
6 p.m. | ESPN2/ESPN+ | The Point ESPN’s flagship NHL studio show debuts in its new one-hour, 6 p.m. ET timeslot as the preview show and entry point into the 2022-23 NHL season ahead of the opening night Face-Off doubleheader. |
Host: Steve Levy
Analysts: Mark Messier, Chris Chelios |
| Tuesday, October 11 |
7:30 p.m. | ESPN+/ESPN | Tampa Bay Lightning at New York Rangers In a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference Final, the Rangers (0-0-0) host the Lightning (0-0-0) at MSG on opening night. |
Play-by-Play: Sean McDonough
Analyst: Ray Ferraro Reporter: Emily Kaplan In Studio: Steve Levy, Mark Messier, Chris Chelios |
| Tuesday, October 11 |
10 p.m. | ESPN/ESPN+ | Vegas Golden Knights at Los Angeles Kings The Golden Knights (0-0-0) begin a new era with coach Bruce Cassidy, when they visit the Kings (0-0-0) at Crypto.com Arena to open the season. |
Play-by-Play: Bob Wischusen
Analyst: Brian Boucher Reporter: Leah Hextall In Studio: Steve Levy, Mark Messier, Chris Chelios |
| Thursday, October 13 | 7 p.m. | ESPN+/Hulu | New Jersey Devils at Philadelphia Flyers The Flyers (0-0-0) host the Devils (0-0-0) in their home opener with new coach John Tortorella at the helm, while New Jersey aims to bounce back from an injury-plagued season with the return of Jack Hughes. |
Play-by-Play: John Buccigross
Analyst: Ray Ferraro Reporter: Emily Kaplan In Studio: Steve Levy, Kevin Weekes |
| Thursday, October 13 | 8:30 p.m. | ESPN+/Hulu | Dallas Stars at Nashville Predators With a newly re-signed Jason Robertson, the Stars (0-0-0) travel to Nashville to take on the Predators (2-0-0), who return from the NHL Global Series in Prague after handling the San Jose Sharks to open the 2022-23 NHL season. |
Play-by-Play: Leah Hextall
Analyst: Ryan Callahan In Studio: Steve Levy, Kevin Weekes |
*Please note commentator assignments may be subject to change.
NHL Power Play on ESPN+ | This Week’s Live Out-of-Market Highlight Games
Heading into the 2022-23 NHL season, ESPN+ is introducing NHL Power Play on ESPN+, a new name for the more than 1,050 live out-of-market games available to stream on ESPN+ throughout the regular season.
NHL Power Play games include the choice of two separate live streams with either home team or away team commentary, as well as Canadian national presentations of Hockey Night in Canada, providing a local experience for fans no matter where they are in the U.S. Replays of every NHL regular season and playoff game on ABC, ESPN, NHL Network, and TNT are also made available to stream on NHL Power Play on ESPN+.
NHL Power Play on ESPN+ will stream 28 live out-of-market games this week, including 13 of the 14 total games scheduled on Saturday, October 15 – the busiest day of NHL opening week.
*Subscribe to ESPN+ at ESPNPlus.com for more than 1,050 NHL Power Play out-of-market games this season.
Studio Shows
The Point
The Point returns October 11 from 6-7 p.m. ET on ESPN2 ahead of Tuesday’s opening night doubleheader on ESPN. The weekly studio show will again surround ESPN’s live coverage of NHL games, including in-depth analysis of key matchups, league trends, dynamic feature stories and hockey lifestyle coverage. Steve Levy hosts this week’s show and will be joined by analysts Mark Messier and Chris Chelios.
All episodes of The Point will be simulcast live on ESPN+ and will be available for on-demand replay.
In The Crease
Beginning Oct. 11, In the Crease – the long-running NHL post-game show – will return exclusively to ESPN+ with episodes streaming after the last contest on every game night of the season. Regular hosts Linda Cohn and Arda Öcal with analyst Barry Melrose will offer in-depth analysis, interviews, highlights and more from all the day’s NHL game action throughout the season.
Steve Levy will host Tuesday night’s season-opening show and be joined by Barry Melrose.
The Drop presented by EA Sports NHL 23
The Drop, a 30-minute live digital NHL pregame show – streaming on the ESPN App and ESPN’s YouTube, Twitter and Facebook platforms – returns October 11 at 7 p.m. ET. Arda Öcal and Greg Wyshynski return as co-hosts, looking ahead with an opening night preview and offering predictions on the season to come.
NHL Digital Content on ESPN.com and ESPN App
Go to ESPN.com/NHL or the ESPN App for up-to-the-minute NHL news, information and analysis, including premium editorial content by ESPN senior NHL writer Greg Wyshynski, exclusively for ESPN+ subscribers.
- How to watch NHL games on ESPN, ABC, ESPN+ and Hulu
- NHL Future Power Rankings: Predicting best, worst teams for the next three seasons (ESPN+ Premium Article)
- Toronto out and Detroit in? Teams most likely to rise and fall in the playoff race (ESPN+ Premium Article)
- ‘We’ve gotta do something with it:’ Pens’ veterans back and hungry for another Cup
- There’s no salary cap on hockey operations: Inside the NHL’s secret race for competitive advantage
- How a wave of fast, young defensemen is changing the NHL
- Who makes the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs? Wyshynski’s predictions for every team’s finish (ESPN+ Premium Article)
- Lapsed fan’s guide to 2022-23 NHL season: Trades, signings, hirings and more you missed this offseason
- Atlantic Uprising: Can the Red Wings, Sabres, Senators make the playoffs?
- NHL roundtable: Breakout stars, teams that will shock, Avs’ repeat chances
- NHL season preview: Power rankings, X factors, best- and worst-case scenarios for all 32 teams
- Expert picks and predictions for Stanley Cup, divisions, awards (Oct. 11)
- Viewer’s guide to NHL opening night on ESPN (Oct. 11)
- As Avalanche begin Cup defense, has Nathan MacKinnon relaxed at all? (Oct. 12)
ESPN Daily Podcast
ESPN NHL senior writer Greg Wyshynski joins the ESPN Daily podcast on Tuesday, October 11, to preview the 2022-23 NHL Season.
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CONTACTS:
ESPN
Danny Chi | [email protected] | 213-405-4400
Andrea DiCristoforo | [email protected] | 603-759-7670
ESPN+
Kevin Ota | [email protected] | 860-839-7834
Olivia Wilson | [email protected] | 904-303-3538
