Columbus Blue Jackets announce 2017-18 regular season schedule

Columbus, Oh -The Columbus Blue Jackets and National Hockey League announced today a 2017-18 regular season schedule in which the club will play 82 games, including 41 home dates at Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets will kick off their 17th NHL season on Friday, October 6 against the New York Islanders with faceoff slated for 7 p.m. ET at Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets' announcement of the club's 2017-18 schedule is presented by Mike's Hard Lemonade.
This season's schedule will see the Blue Jackets play every team in the NHL at least once at home and once on the road, including games against the NHL's 31st team, the expansion Vegas Golden Knights.

Columbus will play Metropolitan Division teams a total of 28 times, including 14 games at Nationwide Arena. The Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals will each visit Nationwide Arena twice. The Blue Jackets will face members of the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division 24 times, including 12 at home. The club will play two home games each against the Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning, while hosting the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs one time each.
Overall, the Blue Jackets will play their 82 games over 184 days with 47 games slated for Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, including six Thursday home games, 11 Friday home contests and seven Saturday home games at Nationwide Arena. Columbus will also play 17 times on Tuesday nights, including eight times at home. March is the club's busiest month with 16 contests, followed by December with 15 games. Columbus hosts a season-long four-game homestand from October 19-27 and March 6-12. The club will have a mandated five-day break from January 13-17 and the All-Star break is slated for January 26-29.
In addition to Opening Night vs. the Islanders, highlights of the 2017-18 home schedule include:
Oct. 13andNov. 17 vs. NY Rangers(Rick Nash, Henrik Lundqvist and Metropolitan Division rivals)
Nov. 7 vs. Nashville Predators(lone visit by reigning Western Conference champions and former Central Division rivals)
Feb. 6andFeb. 26 vs. Washington Capitals(Alex Ovechkin and back-to-back reigning Presidents' Trophy winners)
Feb. 18andApr. 5 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (Sidney Crosby and back-to-back reigning Stanley Cup champions)
Feb. 24 vs. Chicago Blackhawks(lone visit by former Central Division rival; 2010, 2013 and 2015 Stanley Cup champions)
Dec. 31 vs. Tampa Bay Lightning(New Year's Eve)
Mar. 6 vs. Vegas Golden Knights(debut visit by NHL's newest franchise)
Mar. 9andApr. 3 vs. Detroit Red Wings (former Central Division rivals)
Mar. 12 vs. Montreal Canadiens (lone visit by 24-time Stanley Cup champions)