NY Islanders' Opponent for 2026-27 Home Opener Revealed

Who will the New York Islanders be facing in their home opener?

Mar 21, 2026; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; View of a New York Islanders logo on a jersey worn by a member of the team during warm-up before the game against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre. / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With the offseason starting to settle down a bit for the New York Islanders, the regular season is going to be coming up right around the corner. With an expanded schedule this coming season, hockey will be back soon. 

For the Islanders, they came into the summer as a team that was seemingly looking a bit more toward the future than the present. While this is a group that will want to compete, getting in a better cap situation and developing some of their young prospects will be the focus. 

That being said, this is still a team that has some very talented players and a couple that are among the best in the league at their positions. Matthew Schaefer is a generational talent on the blueline, and Ilya Sorokin has emerged as one of the best goalies in the league. 

This combination is going to win the Islanders some games next year, and it will be interesting to see how far they can carry the team. Now, with the season starting in about two and a half months, the Islanders know who they will be facing at home to start things off. 

Islanders’ Home Opener Revealed 

The @NHL announced today the 2026-27 regular season, expanded to 84 games with the addition of two more divisional contests per team, will open on Tuesday, Sept. 29. In addition, the League announced each team’s home opener.

Details: https://t.co/jMxZCwXZU6 pic.twitter.com/wfrDekHQs1

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) July 15, 2026

With the season kicking off on September 29th, New York will be having their season opener on October 3rd against the New Jersey Devils. This will be a fun game to start the season, and both teams will be familiar with each other after playing a couple of preseason games together. 

Like the Islanders, the Devils just narrowly missed the playoffs last year, and both teams are hungry to improve and be better. Recently, New Jersey was just able to add a talented free agent in Anthony Mantha, who would have been a really strong target for the Islanders. 

This will be a good early test for both sides and, with the familiarity of the two, could be a good game for a home opener. 

Furthermore, with the home opener being on October 3rd, the Islanders will likely have another game before then based on when the season is scheduled to start. However, they aren’t playing another team in their home opener, which was announced. 

When the full NHL schedule is released, it will be interesting to see if the home opener will indeed be the season opener for the Islanders. The NHL is switching to an 84-game season this year, so more than likely New York will have one game on the road before they kick things off at UBS Arena.