The Washington Capitals have released their 2026-27 regular season schedule, and the expanded 84-game campaign begins with a date with the defending champs in their own barn.

The Capitals open their season Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. against the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center before heading to Tampa to face the Lightning the very next day, the team announced Thursday. That is the first of 14 sets of back-to-back games for the Caps.

Washington will host its first game of the season Oct. 7 at 7:30 p.m. against their archrivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

For those families who celebrate Capsgiving, Washington will again be hosting games on the day before and the day after the Thanksgiving holiday. The Capitals host Philadelphia Nov. 25 and Florida comes to town Nov. 27.

The Caps also have a home game the day after Christmas against Columbus and on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 14, against the Utah Mammoth at 1 p.m.

Washington’s schedule pauses from Feb. 4-12, overlapping with the 2027 NHL All-Star Weekend on Feb. 5 and 6.

View the full schedule here.