On Friday, the 2025-26 NHL Global Series kicks off.
And so will a key stretch of games for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The team is currently 9-5-3 with 21 points, which is good enough for third in the Metropolitan Division standings and sixth in the Eastern Conference. Other teams in the division and in the conference have finally caught up to the Penguins in games played, and it seems everyone is one a somewhat level playing field.
And that’s part of what makes this upcoming stretch of games for the Penguins so important.
The Penguins will play two games against the Nashville Predators in Sweden on Friday and Sunday before they come home to face off against the Minnesota Wild on Nov. 21 in the first of a back-to-back. They play the Seattle Kraken – who have enjoyed a surprising start to the season at 8-4-5 – before playing games in succession against the Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets, Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers, and Tampa Bay Lightning, all teams outside of the current playoff picture.
But, from there, the gauntlet starts – and it doesn’t really get any easier for the rest of the season since the schedule is more condensed because of the Olympic break. Starting Dec. 7 until the holiday break beginning on Dec. 24, the Penguins play 10 games in 17 days, and seven of those teams are in the playoff picture. One of the teams that isn’t, too, is the Edmonton Oilers, who the Penguins have struggled mightily against in the last several seasons.
Suffice to say, banking points in this stretch is critical for the Penguins – and they understand that the Global Series isn’t just a nice week-and-a-half vacation for them. It’s stretches like this that a team looks back on at the end of the season – playoffs or not – and realizes the importance of the points they did or didn’t accrue.
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The 2025-26 NHL Global Series is finally here, and the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators are gearing up for their two-game set at Avicii Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.
“At the end of the day, we’re here for two games, four big points,” forward Kevin Hayes said. “No matter where you’re playing, you want to set yourself up for later down the line this season. Starting this morning – starting last night – it’s kind of back to business, and when the puck drops, you’re going for two points.”
With eight of the next nine opponents outside of the playoff picture, it’s easy to simply expect results, too. But given their most recent five-game set – when they lost four out of five games despite outplaying opponents for most of that stretch – they still need to play a full 60 minutes of hockey in each of these games to bank the points and give themselves some padding heading into a really tough stretch of the season.
And that stretch doesn’t get any easier after the holidays, either. Pittsburgh will play 20 games in 40 days, and – just like everyone else – they return from the near-three-week Olympic break in February to a crazy schedule ending the season, which involves 19 games in 34 days by the end of March.
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The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to end their two-game losing streak on Friday.
If the Penguins can manage at least three points in Sweden and approximately 12 of 18 possible points in these nine games, that’s a win. They need to keep pace with a Metropolitan Division that has struggled a bit in the earlygoing but is beginning to pick up some steam – especially in the wild card picture, where three Metro teams in the New York Rangers, Flyers, and Blue Jackets are within one point of a playoff spot and have been playing some good hockey as of late.
Last year, a 1-3-1 stretch coming into this road trip may have left the team disheartened. But, this year, things are different – and there is a belief in the locker room that the group can keep this thing going in a positive direction and steer toward its first playoff berth in four years.
“Last year, I felt like goals would go in, and we were like, ‘Oh no, here we go, not again.’ And, this year, I feel like whether we’re winning or losing, it’s the same belief until the final second of the game,” Hayes said. “I’ve only been in two games. But just watching from up top and seeing the vibe in the locker room, that’s what it kind of feels like.”
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