Now that everyone has plans for 82 days this fall, winter and spring, it's time to break down the finer points of the schedule; the back-to-backs, matinees, road trips and more!
Home Opener
Saturday night's alright for starting the season.
The Isles kick off the season on Saturday, Oct. 14 against the Buffalo Sabres at UBS Arena.
Five of the Islanders first six games will be played at UBS Arena.
There's no place like home. 🏠
Every team's home opener and more can be found in today's 2023-24 regular-season schedule release.
The Islanders play six straight at home in early December, hosting San Jose, Columbus, LA, Toronto, Anaheim and Boston.
Longest Road Trip
The Islanders have four, four-game road trips this season, a four-way tie for the longest road stretch of the season. They'll knock out the Pacific Northwest in November, jaunt out to Pittsburgh, Colorado, Arizona and Vegas around New Year's, play four straight against the Central in mid-January and go to California in March with a stop in Buffalo tacked on.
Not bad for a team who had a 13-game road trip two years ago.
Bye Week
The Isles will be off from Jan. 28 through the all-star break, returning to regular season action on Feb. 5 in Toronto.
Matinees!
The Islanders have added more day games to the team's home schedule this season.
Seven of the team's 41 home games will start at 5 p.m. or earlier, with six games starting at 3 p.m. or earlier.
The Islanders will also play a few road matinees with 1 p.m. and 12:30 p.m. starts at Madison Square Garden.
The Islanders will play 10 sets of back-to-back games this season, down from 15 last season (and 17 two years prior). Here's the breakdown of the travel schedule for the back-to-backs.
Saturday night's also alright for Isles hockey, as the team will play 22 Saturday games this season, the most of any day of the week. No surprise here, as the Isles have a healthy Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday cadence.
Stadium Series vs NYR: Feb. 18
The Islanders and Rangers will play outdoors at MetLife Stadium.
Stanley Cup Champs: Jan. 23
The Isles will host the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 23
Thanksgiving/Black Friday
The Islanders will host the Philadelphia Flyers the night before Thanksgiving and will take on the Ottawa Senators in Ottawa on Black Friday
Isles vs Maple Leafs
The Islanders host the Maple Leafs twice this season, first on Dec. 11 and again on Jan. 11.
Rematch with Carolina: Nov. 4
The Islanders won't have to wait long to see the Carolina Hurricanes, as they meet in a playoff rematch on Nov. 4 at UBS Arena. They'll meet in Raleigh on Nov. 30 and Dec. 23 and conclude the season series on March 19.
Season Finale
The Islanders wrap up the regular season against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Apr. 17.
