After the pomp and circumstance of their 50th anniversary season celebrations, the 2025-26 Capitals will look to follow up with what they hope is a Stanley Cup contending season and perhaps Alex Ovechkin’s final NHL season. The quest begins on Wednesday, Oct. 8, against the Bruins.
The NHL released its regular-season schedule with a couple of familiar dates and events familiar to Capitals fans.
Capitals face Bruins in tune-up before the real deal
While a majority of the preseason will be on the road thanks to construction at Capital One Arena, Washington will play three games in seven nights in early October, starting the 2nd against Boston in the team’s fifth preseason contest, with another against Columbus two days later before they open for real on the 8th. The Caps’ other “home” preseason game will be held in Hershey on Sept. 25, with the Giant Center hosting its first NHL preseason game since Ovechkin’s second season in the league in 2006.
Washington’s last home opener against Boston was a memorable one, as on Oct. 4, 2018, the Capitals raised their Stanley Cup championship banner to the rafters at Capital One Arena, and then went out and routed Boston 7-0. Previously, the Capitals opened the 2022-23 season against the Bruins, but the game was in Boston and a 5-2 setback for the Capitals, who ended up missing the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
