Rangers 2025-26 NHL schedule includes outdoor game, longest homestand, road trip since 2021
The New York Rangers will play their sixth outdoor game during the 2025-26 season, as well as their longest homestand and road trip in five years.
The NHL released its full schedule for the upcoming season Wednesday, though Rangers fans already knew that the Blueshirts’ season opener was set for Oct. 7, with the Pittsburgh Penguins coming to Madison Square Garden to face their old coach, Mike Sullivan, who’s now behind the bench for the Rangers.
They’ll begin 2026 by trying to extend their perfect outdoor record when they face the Florida Panthers in the 2026 Winter Classic at LoanDepot Park in Miami on Jan. 2. The Rangers are 5-0-0 outdoors, with the most recent win coming against the New York Islanders on Feb. 18, 2024, a 6-5 overtime victory at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
That game is the finale of a six-game road trip, the Rangers’ longest since 2021. They also have a late-season seven-game homestand that is their longest in five years.
Here are some of the highlights of the Rangers’ 2025-26 schedule:
Mike Sullivan makes quick return to Pittsburgh with Rangers
The Rangers new coach won’t have to wait long to return to the city where he coached back-to-back Stanley Cup champions in 2016 and 2017. After making his debut with the Rangers against the Penguins as part of the NHL opening-night tripleheader, Sullivan and the Blueshirts will visit PPG Paints Arena four nights later, on Oct. 11.
It will be interesting to see what kind of reaction Sullivan gets from the fans who used to cheer him. He left the Penguins after they missed the playoffs in each of the past three seasons, and there didn’t appear to be a lot of regret on either side when he and the Penguins parted ways after 10 seasons.
Ironically, he’ll be coaching against a former Rangers assistant. Dan Muse, who wasn’t fired when the Rangers axed Peter Laviolette after missing the playoffs last season, was named as Sullivan’s replacement.
Rangers on road for holidays (and beyond)
The Rangers haven’t had a six-game road trip since March 2021, and even that one gets an asterisk because they only visited three cities (Newark, Pittsburgh and Boston), playing back-to-back games in each during the COVID-shortened season.
That won’t be the case when they head to Nashville for a Sunday night contest on Dec. 21. They go to Washington two nights later to play the Capitals (their sixth game in nine nights), then resume play after the Christmas break by visiting the Islanders on Dec. 27, followed by trips to Carolina and Washington before the Winter Classic against the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers on the first Friday of the new year.
In all, the Rangers will spend more than two weeks away from the Garden; they host the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 20 and aren’t home again until the Utah Mammoth come to town on Jan. 5.
Aside from this six-game trip, the Rangers have no road swing longer than a four-game, seven-day swing through Western Canada and Seattle from Oct. 26 through Nov. 1.
Rangers to get late-season home cooking …
2021 was also the last time the Rangers had a homestand of more than five games. That will change this season, when they play seven in a row at the Garden from March 27 through April 8.
This figures to be a chance for the Rangers to pile up some points. Three of the seven teams they face on the homestand missed the playoffs last season, and two more lost their opening-round series in five games. Only the Panthers (March 29) and Capitals (April 5) made it past the first round.
Stretch things out a bit more and the Rangers will enjoy one of the longest home-dominant stretches in their history. Beginning with a visit from the Los Angeles Kings on March 16, the Rangers play 11 of 13 games at the Garden, with the only road games against the Columbus Blue Jackets (March 19) and Toronto Maple Leafs (March 25).
… but a tough finish
After all that time at home, the Rangers finish their season with a nasty three-game road trip.
The Blueshirts make their only trip of the season to Dallas on April 11 to face the Stars, who’ve gotten as far as the Western Conference Final in each of the past three seasons. Two nights later, they visit the Panthers in Sunrise, Florida, then conclude the regular season against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on April 15.
That’s two games against Final Four teams before one against a club coming off a 102-point season and eight straight playoff appearances. Not the ideal way to end a season – especially if you need points to make the playoffs.
A baker’s dozen back-to-backs, including a rarity
The Rangers play 13 sets of back-to-back games, beginning on the first weekend of the season – their trip to Pittsburgh on Oct. 11 is followed by a visit by the Capitals one night later.
Four of the back-to-backs involve consecutive home games – two come in a 10-day span in December, the others are in late March and early April. Only one set features consecutive road games: The Rangers visit the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 18 and the Kings on the 19th.
But the most intriguing back-to-back involves the Rangers and Islanders, who face off at UBS Arena on Jan. 28 and at the Garden on Jan. 29. It’s the first time the Rangers will face their archrivals on consecutive days since April 3-4, 2008, when the teams split road victories – the Blueshirts won 3-0 at Nassau Coliseum before losing 4-3 in a shootout at MSG one night later.
A back-to-back that will see the Rangers visit the Philadelphia Flyers on March 9 and host the Calgary Flames on March 10 begins what figures to be a brutal month for New York. The Blueshirts will play 13 times in the final 22 days of March, including three back-to-backs, and 16 times in the from March 2-31.
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