The countdown is on as the Nashville Predators will take on the Minnesota Wild on Thursday, Oct. 1, at Bridgestone Arena to open the 2026-27 regular season. 

The NHL announced all 32 teams' season and home openers on Wednesday, with full schedules being released on Thursday at 12 p.m. CST. The season will open on Sept. 29. 

Nashville is looking to win back-to-back home openers for the first time since 2020, when it defeated Minnesota, 5-2, in the 19-20 season opener and Columbus, 3-1, in the 20-21 season opener. 

The Predators defeated Columbus, 2-1, on Oct. 9 at home to open up last season. The luck didn't last long, as Nashville went 5-8-4 through the first month of the season and quickly tumbled to the bottom of the league standings. 

Nashville put together a competitive record against the Wild last season, going 2-0-2 against its Central Division rival. 

In the first meeting, Marcus Johansson scored a controversial game-winning goal in overtime in St. Paul for a 3-2 Minnesota victory. It was the same game in which Steven Stamkos forced OT with 0.3 seconds left in regulation. 

The second matchup in Minnesota saw Stamkos score the game-winner just 53 seconds into overtime for a 3-2 Nashville victory.

A meeting in early February at Bridgestone saw Nashville chasing a lead, with Roman Josi forcing overtime in the third period. Jared Spurgeon scored the game-winner with less than a minute left in the extra period for a 6-5 Wild win. 

The final meeting of the 25-26 season came in the midst of Nashville's push for a Wild Card spot in April. Goals by Matthew Wood and Stamkos gave the Predators a 2-1 victory.

Former Predators center Michael McCarron scored Minnesota's lone goal in his first game against his previous squad.