Toronto Maple Leafs at Montreal Canadiens (7 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN)
The Maple Leafs-Canadiens matchup at Bell Centre highlights three all-Canadian games Wednesday. Auston Matthews enters the season as the first United States-born captain in the 107-year history of the Maple Leafs and ranks third in franchise history with 368 goals, 52 behind leader Mats Sundin (420). Toronto added defensemen Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson and coach Craig Berube, who became the 41st coach in franchise history and guided the St. Louis Blues to the Stanley Cup in 2019. Montreal's most significant offseason move was acquiring forward Patrik Laine in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Aug. 19, but he'll be out for the first 2-3 months of the season after spraining his left knee in a preseason game against the Maple Leafs on Sept. 28. However, center Kirby Dach will return to the lineup after he sustained a season-ending knee injury in the home opener in 2023-24.
New York Rangers at Pittsburgh Penguins (7:30 p.m. ET; MAX, TNT)
Sidney Crosby begins his 20th NHL season when his Penguins host the Rangers at PPG Paints Arena. Crosby (592 goals, 1,004 assists) needs four points to become the 10th player in League history with 1,600. The Penguins added forwards Kevin Hayes, Blake Lizotte, Cody Glass and Anthony Beauvillier, but Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and defensemen Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson remain the core pieces. New York is still smarting over losing three one-goal games in the Eastern Conference Final to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. Reilly Smith and Sam Carrick are new to the forward group, but the Rangers hope the line of Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere can pick up where it left off last season, when the three combined for 254 points.
Colorado Avalanche at Vegas Golden Knights (10 p.m. ET; MAX, TNT)
The new-look Golden Knights host the Nathan MacKinnon-led Avalanche at T-Mobile Arena. Vegas acquired goalies Ilya Samsonov and Akira Schmid and forwards Victor Olofsson and Alexander Holtz in the offseason. The biggest additions were made before the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline, when Vegas acquired Tomas Hertl from the San Jose Sharks on March 8 and defenseman Noah Hanifin from the Calgary Flames on March 6. Colorado is one of two teams (Carolina Hurricanes) to win at least 50 games each of the past three seasons, and will again rely on forwards MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and defenseman Cale Makar. MacKinnon and Rantanen each is aiming for a third straight 100-point season.
Winnipeg Jets at Edmonton Oilers (10 p.m. ET; TVAS, SNE, SNO, SNW)
Oilers captain Connor McDavid begins his 10th season needing 18 points to hit 1,000 in his NHL career for the Oilers at Rogers Place. The Jets' Connor Hellebuyck (275 wins in 505 games), a two-time Vezina Trophy winner as the best goalie in the NHL, is looking to become the fastest one born in the United States to reach 300 wins (Ryan Miller, 566 games).
Calgary Flames at Vancouver Canucks (10 p.m. ET; SN1, SNP)
Quinn Hughes returns after winning the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman, and Rick Tocchet is back after winning the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year in Vancouver's opener at Rogers Arena. Forwards Yegor Sharangovich and Blake Coleman will each look to build on his first 30-goal season with expanded roles for the Flames in 2024-25, though Sharangovich is week to week because of a lower-body injury and was placed on injured reserve Monday.
