The puck drops on the NHL 2024-25 season on Tuesday, with an opening night tripleheader Face-Off, exclusively on ESPN and ESPN+.
The St. Louis Blues and newly-signed forward Dylan Holloway aim to make a splash in the season opener as they travel to Climate Pledge Arena to take on the Seattle Kraken and center Matty Beniers, who inked a seven-year contract extension this offseason, and new addition Chandler Stephenson at 4:30 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+.
The defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers with Sam Reinhart and Selke Trophy winner Aleksander Barkov host the Boston Bruins and David Pastrnak at 7 p.m. in a second round playoff rematch, after being eliminated by the Panthers the previous two postseasons. Prior to the game, the Panthers will see their first championship banner raised at Amerant Bank Arena during the Stanley Cup banner ceremony.
Following at 10 p.m., the highly-anticipated debut of the Utah Hockey Club takes place in front of the home crowd at the Delta Center with Logan Cooley and newly-acquired defenseman Mikhail Sergachev as they face off against the Chicago Blackhawksand Connor Bedard – last year’s Calder Memorial Trophy winner – to close out the night.
In a first for ESPN, analyst Ray Ferraro will be on the call for two games opening night, beginning with the Blues-Kraken, then traveling to the nightcap game to call the Blackhawks at Utah Hockey Club.
ESPN’s NHL studio show, The Point, returns Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+, ahead of the season-opening tripleheader. Steve Levy hosts this week’s show live from the Delta Center in Salt Lake City from a GameDay-style atmosphere and will be joined by analysts Mark Messier and P.K. Subban. Interviews will include NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Utah Hockey Club Owner Ryan Smith. 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.
All episodes of The Point will be simulcast live on ESPN+ and will be available for on-demand replay.
On Thursday, Oct. 10, in the first ESPN+/Hulu exclusive games of the season, former Lightning captain Steven Stamkos and 2023 Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Jonathan Marchessault make their Nashville Predators debut, when they host the Dallas Stars and Jason Robertson at 8 p.m. ET. Following at 10:30 p.m., 2024 No. 1 overall draft pick Macklin Celebrini makes his debut with the San Jose Sharks as they host the Blues and new defenseman Philip Broberg at the SAP Center.
Exclusive NHL games on ESPN and ESPN+/Hulu this week:
ESPN’s flagship NHL studio show makes its season debut at 4 p.m. ET as the preview show and entry point into the 2024-25 NHL season ahead of the opening night Face-Off tripleheader.
Analysts: Mark Messier, P.K. Subban
The Blues (0-0-0) and Center Robert Thomas face the Kraken (0-0-0) and recently acquired 2024 Stanley Cup Champion Brandon Montour.
Analyst: Ray Ferraro
Reporter: Stormy Buonantony
Rules Analyst: Dave Jackson
In Studio: Steve Levy, Mark Messier, P.K. Subban
The Bruins (0-0-0) and Captain Brad Marchand face the Defending Stanley Cup Panthers (0-0-0) and Matthew Tkachuk at Amerant Bank Arena.
Analyst: Ryan Callahan
Rules Analyst: Dave Jackson
In Studio: Steve Levy, Mark Messier, P.K. Subban
The Blackhawks (0-0-0) and Nick Foligno take on the Utah Hockey Club (0-0-0) and newly named Captain of the franchise, Clayton Keller.
Analysts: Ray Ferraro, AJ Mleczko
Reporter: Leah Hextall
Rules Analyst: Dave Jackson
In Studio: Steve Levy, Mark Messier, P.K. Subban
The Stars (0-0-0) and Jason Robertson take on the new-look Predators (0-0-0) with two prominent additions in Steven Stamkos and 2023 Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Jonathan Marchessault.
Analyst: AJ Mleczko
Rules Analyst: Dave Jackson
In Studio: Arda Öcal, Kevin Weekes
The Blues (0-0-0) and new defenseman Philip Broberg to take on the Sharks (0-0-0) and NHL debut of No. 1 overall draft pick Macklin Celebrini at the SAP Center.
Analyst: Cassie Campbell-Pascall
Rules Analyst: Dave Jackson
In Studio: Arda Öcal, Kevin Weekes
The Lightning (0-0-0) and newly acquired defenseman Jake Guentzel face his former team in the Hurricanes (0-0-0) and Sebastian Aho.
Analyst: Ryan Callahan
Rules Analyst: Dave Jackson
In Studio: Arda Öcal, Kevin Weekes
*Please note commentator assignments may be subject to change.
NHL Power Play on ESPN+ (Out-of-Market Games on ESPN+)
In addition to 50 exclusive games on ESPN+/Hulu, more than 1,050 out-of-market games will be available through NHL Power Play on ESPN+ – included in all ESPN+ subscriptions – throughout the 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+. To sign up, visit ESPNPlus.com.
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.
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Andrea DiCristoforo | [email protected] | 213-405-4612
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