The Hartford Wolf Pack will open their 2026-27 home schedule against a familiar opponent.
The club announced Tuesday, in conjunction with the American Hockey League, that Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will visit PeoplesBank Arena on Saturday, Oct. 10, with puck drop set for 6:00 p.m.
It will be the fourth time in the franchise’s 30-year history that Hartford begins its home slate against the Penguins. The Wolf Pack also hosted Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the home opener in 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2025-26.
Hartford has had a mixed run in those games, going 1-1-0-1 against the Penguins in home openers. The most dramatic of the bunch came on Oct. 22, 2022, when the Wolf Pack clawed back from a 3-0 hole behind two C.J. Smith goals before eventually falling 4-3 in a shootout.
A year later, the script flipped hard. On Oct. 20, 2023, Hartford shut out Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 5-0 to kick off the 2023-24 home schedule, with five different Wolf Pack players finding the net.
The Penguins got the upper hand again in the most recent home opener, beating Hartford 5-2 on Oct. 17, 2025.
The teams also saw plenty of each other during the 2025-26 season, meeting six times. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton took four of those matchups, and Hartford finished 2-4-0-0 in the season series.
Overall, the Wolf Pack are 36-40-1-10-3 against the Penguins and 20-18-6-2 at home.
The full 2026-27 AHL regular season schedule will be released Thursday, Jul. 9.
In Other News...
Rangers Fans Still Can't Agree On What Braden Schneider Really Is
Braden Schneider has already become one of those Rangers players who can spark a debate just by coming up in conversation. The 24-year-old defenseman, drafted 19th overall in 2020, has logged 368 career games and 43 more in the playoffs, and his appeal is easy to understand: hes big, shoots right, and can be used in different spots on the blue line.
Still, the conversation around Schneider rarely settles into one clean answer. Some fans and analysts see a sturdy, useful piece with real pedigree and experience for his age, while others are less certain about how high his ceiling really is, which is why his status as a restricted free agent has only added to the uncertainty. For the Rangers, he remains one of those players whose value is obvious in some ways and far less settled in others. [Read more 🡒]
Vlad Gavrikovs First Rangers Season Left One Big Question
Vlad Gavrikov arrived in New York on a seven-year, $7 million deal to stabilize the Rangers on the left side of defense, and his first season gave the club plenty to like. He delivered a career-best offensive year, finishing with 14 goals and 35 points, and his scoring punch helped carry part of the load when Adam Fox was sidelined.
The bigger question is whether that production masks areas that still need work, because the Rangers saw enough unevenness in Gavrikovs defensive game to keep the conversation going. His shorthanded play and his work retrieving pucks and getting them out of the zone stood out as spots for improvement, which makes the next season a key one for a player expected to bring more than just offense to the blue line. [Read more 🡒]
Jacob Battaglia Suddenly Feels More Important To The Rangers Future
Jacob Battaglia arrives at his first pro season with a little more intrigue than a typical prospect because the Rangers did not just get a young forward from Calgary, they got one who spent last season learning a new position and looking more complete because of it. The 20-year-old moved to center after the trade to Flint, and even with his point total slipping from the year before, the broader growth in his game made him stand out as someone whose value might be rising for reasons beyond the scoresheet.
That matters in New York because the organization can use help down the middle, and Battaglias development camp showing only added to the buzz around him. Nathan Aspinall singled out his creativity and character, which is the kind of praise that tends to stick when a player is still early in his pro path. The real question now is whether Battaglias new role can translate once the games get faster and the stakes get higher. [Read more 🡒]