The Detroit Red Wings dropped their 2023-24 schedule Tuesday, revealing they will open and close on the road and host the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first home game.
The Wings begin the season at the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 12 and close it April 16 at the Montreal Canadiens. The first game at Little Caesars Arena is Oct. 14.
The longest trip of the season comes in mid-November, when the Wings head to Sweden to play the Ottawa Senators on Nov. 16 and the Toronto Maple Leafs the next day. General manager Steve Yzerman explained why the Wings said yes — or “ja” in Swedish — to such a road trip.
“It’s a great experience,” he said. “Our players are extremely excited to go, our staff is excited to go. I think there are going to be a lot of fans over there, some of our sponsors. When the league called to ask, we talked about it internally — for me it was this is a great experience for our players and for our organization and things they will remember.”
The schedule does allow time to minimize jetlag: The Wings’ last game before the Swedish sojourn is Nov. 11, and they don’t play again on the flip side until Nov. 22, which is Thanksgiving Eve.
Speaking of eve’s: The Wings’ traditional New Year’s Eve game is at 5 p.m. against the Boston Bruins — which will, for a change, allow fans to get home to ring in the new year.
The flip side of only playing twice in about 10 days because of going to Sweden, there is long trip near the end of the season that takes the team from Nashville to Washington to Carolina, to Florida to Tampa Bay from March 23 to April 1.
“You’re going in November, right in the middle of the season virtually,” Yzerman said. “You need time to get over there and get adjusted and you need a few days on the back end. Whatever that 10-day period is, those are 10 days you play two games, normally you play five to six games, so those games have to be played somewhere else. That’s the down side to it.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.
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Red Wings 2023-24 regular season schedule
All times Eastern.
October
12 Thu. at New Jersey 7:0014 Sat. vs. Tampa Bay 7:0016 Mon. at Columbus 7:0018 Wed. vs. Pittsburgh 7:3021 Sat. at Ottawa 1:0022 Sun. vs. Calgary 5:0024 Tue. vs. Seattle 8:1526 Thu. vs. Winnipeg 7:0028 Sat. at Boston 7:0030 Mon. at N.Y. Islanders 7:30
November
2 Thu. vs. Florida 7:004 Sat. vs. Boston 7:007 Tue. at N.Y. Rangers 7:309 Thu. vs. Montreal 7:0011 Sat. vs. Columbus1:0016 Thu. at Ottawa (in Sweden) 2:0017 Fri. vs. Toronto (in Sweden) 2:0022 Wed. at New Jersey 7:0024 Fri. at Boston 1:0026 Sun. vs. Minnesota 1:0029 Wed. at N.Y. Rangers 7:3030 Thu. vs. Chicago 7:00
December
2 Sat. at Montreal 7:005 Tue. at Buffalo 7:007 Thu. vs. San Jose 7:009 Sat. vs. Ottawa 7:0011 Mon. at Dallas 8:0012 Tue. at St. Louis 8:0014 Thu. vs. Carolina 7:0016 Sat. at Philadelphia 1:0018 Mon. vs. Anaheim 7:0020 Wed. at Winnipeg 7:3022 Fri. vs. Philadelphia 7:0023 Sat. at New Jersey 7:0027 Wed. at Minnesota 8:0029 Fri. vs. Nashville 7:0031 Sun. vs. Boston 5:00
January
2 Tue. at San Jose 10:304 Thu. at Los Angeles 10:307 Sun. at Anaheim 8:0011 Thu. vs. Edmonton 7:0013 Sat. vs. Los Angeles 7:0014 Sun. at Toronto 7:0017 Wed. at Florida 7:0019 Fri. at Carolina 7:0021 Sun. vs. Tampa Bay 5:0023 Tue. vs. Dallas 7:0025 Thu. vs. Philadelphia 7:0027 Sat. vs. Vegas 7:0031 Wed. vs. Ottawa 7:00
February
10 Sat. vs. Vancouver 1:0013 Tue. at Edmonton 9:0015 Thu. at Vancouver 10:0017 Sat. at Calgary 4:0019 Mon. at Seattle 3:3022 Thu. vs. Colorado 7:0024 Sat. vs. St. Louis 7:0025 Sun. at Chicago 6:0027 Tue. vs. Washington 7:0029 Thu. vs. N.Y. Islanders 7:00
March
2 Sat. vs. Florida 7:006 Wed. at Colorado 9:308 Fri. at Arizona 10:009 Sat. at Vegas 10:0012 Tue. at Buffalo 7:0014 Thu. vs. Arizona 7:0016 Sat. vs. Buffalo 12:3017 Sun. at Pittsburgh 6:0019 Tue. vs. Columbus 7:0021 Thu. vs. N.Y. Islanders 7:0023 Sat. at Nashville 5:0026 Tue. at Washington Arena 7:0028 Thu. at Carolina 7:0030 Sat. at Florida 12:30
April
1 Mon. at Tampa Bay 7:005 Fri. vs. N.Y. Ranger 7:007 Sun. vs. Buffalo 1:009 Tue. vs. Washington 7:0011 Thu. at Pittsburgh 7:0013 Sat. at Toronto 7:0015 Mon. vs. Montreal 7:0016 Tue. at Montreal 7:00