Breaking Down the 2019-20 Schedule

The Carolina Hurricanes' 2019-20 regular-season schedule is hot off the press, and the team will open at home on Thursday, Oct. 3 against the Montreal Canadiens.
Is it October yet? Not quite, but there are exactly 100 days until Opening Night.
2019-20 SCHEDULE | PRINT THE SCHEDULE | SYNC THE SCHEDULE
Here is a breakdown of some of the highlights from the 82-game schedule.

Opening Night in Raleigh
For the third straight year, the Hurricanes will begin their season on home ice. The Canes open on Thursday, Oct. 3 against the Canadiens before traveling to Washington for the Capitals' home opener on Saturday, Oct. 5, a rematch of an intense and grueling first-round playoff series that stoked the fire of the rivalry between the two clubs. A Sunday evening match-up against the Tampa Bay Lightning at PNC Arena caps the first weekend of the 2019-20 season.
Heading West
The Hurricanes will make three separate trips out west, beginning with a three-game jaunt through California (Los Angeles, San Jose and Anaheim) in mid-October while the North Carolina State Fair is in town (more on that below). A five-game swing in mid-December takes the Canes through Edmonton, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg and Colorado, and the team will then trek through St. Louis, Arizona, Vegas and Dallas in a four-game roadie in early February.
State Fair Game
For the second straight season, the Hurricanes will stage a home game during the State Fair on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 1 p.m. against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Happy New Year
Ring in 2020 with the Hurricanes, who host the Montreal Canadiens at 7 p.m. on New Year's Eve.
Home Sweet Home
The Hurricanes' longest homestand of the season - seven games stretched over a 15-day period as the calendar turns from 2019 to 2020 - begins Dec. 28 against Washington and concludes Jan. 11 with the tail-end of a back-to-back at home against Pacific Division opponents.
That homestand comprises a home-heavy stretch from late December to early February that sees the Canes play 12 of 14 games in their friendly barn.
Taking a Break
A three-game homestand leads the Hurricanes into their longest break of the season, which spans nine days. Included in that time away from the rink is 2020 NHL All-Star Weekend in St. Louis on Jan. 25-26. The bye week - a rest period during which no team activities can occur - then follows, effectively super-sizing the All-Star break. For the second straight season, the Canes return to action following the break to host the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday, Jan. 31.
Challenging the Champs
The Hurricanes will face off with the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues twice in the 2019-20 season. The Canes visit St. Louis on Feb. 4, the start of a four-game road trip, before the Blues stop in Raleigh on March 19.
Going Back to Back
The Hurricanes will play 16 sets of back-to-back games in the 2019-20 season, a set less than the 17 they played last season. Four of the 16 sets occur on Saturday-Sunday in March alone. Three of the 16 sets will not involve travel for the Canes: Oct. 11 vs. NY Islanders and Oct. 12 vs. Columbus, Nov. 1 vs. Detroit and Nov. 2 vs. New Jersey and Jan. 10 vs. Arizona and Jan. 11 vs. Los Angeles.
The Matrix
With 31 franchises in the league, here's how the schedule breaks down in order for each team to travel to and host the other 30 clubs at least once each season. The Hurricanes face their seven Metropolitan Division opponents four times each (twice at home and twice on the road). They square off against their eight Atlantic Division opponents three times each, matching up with four teams twice at home and once on the road and the other four teams once at home and twice in the road, in a rotation from the previous season's schedule. Finally, the Canes play each of the 15 Western Conference teams once at home and once on the road.
Splits
November and March carry the bulk of the load in the Hurricanes' 2019-20 schedule. March, as is typically the case, is the busiest month of the season and features 16 games - seven at home and nine on the road - in a span of just 27 days. While December is tilted to the road, January's slate is incredibly home heavy, as the Canes will play nine of their 11 games in the first month of 2020 at PNC Arena.
| October | 6 | 6 | 12 | | November | 7 | 8 | 15 | | December | 5 | 8 | 13 | | January | 9 | 2 | 11 | | February | 6 | 7 | 13 | | March | 7 | 9 | 16 | | April | 1 | 1 | 2 | | Month | Home | Road | Total | | --- | --- | --- | --- |
Plan to spend your weekends at PNC Arena, as nearly 66 percent of the Hurricanes' 41 home games (27) are slated for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. In total, the weekend houses 44 of the 82 games on the schedule.
The busiest day of the week is Saturday, which includes 11 games at home and 10 on the road for a total of 21 games, over a quarter of the regular-season schedule. The Hurricanes will play on every Saturday from Oct. 26-Dec. 28 (10 games) and from Feb. 22-April 4 (seven games). In fact, just six of your Saturdays in the 2019-20 season will be without Canes hockey (and one of those is during the All-Star break).
Of the Hurricanes' 13 Friday games, 11 are at home, including the regular-season home finale on April 3 vs. Columbus. All of the Canes' Friday home games will face off at 7:30 p.m.
Monday (three games) and Wednesday (two games, including none at home) remain light, while Tuesday (19 games) is the busiest day of the traditional work week.
| Monday | 1 | 2 | 3 | | Tuesday | 7 | 12 | 19 | | Wednesday | 0 | 2 | 2 | | Thursday | 6 | 8 | 14 | | Friday | 11 | 2 | 13 | | Saturday | 11 | 10 | 21 | | Sunday | 5 | 5 | 10 | | Day | Home | Road | Total | | --- | --- | --- | --- |
Opening Night is included with all 2019-20 Season Ticket Memberships. 22- and 11-Game Flex Plans allow Season TIcket Members to choose the games to fill out the remainder of their packages. For more information about Hurricanes Season Ticket Memberships, please call 1-866-NHL-CANEs (1-866-645-2263), fill out this
info request form
or visit
Hurricanes.com/STM
.